Peace and War
by LuigiWife1551
Summary: Eggman has taken over the world at last. A new enemy arises, and a friendly new face emerges. A rag-tag group of survivors band together, facing tragedy, fear, and confusion as they stand strong for their ultimate mission- to free themselves from not one, but two madmen's grip on their world. My take on the Sonic Forces game and comics. Rated for safety.
1. The Beginning of the End

**Hello all! I am back with my next Sonic fanfiction! A few notes before we begin:**

 **I loved the game, but was disappointed by the plotline. It should have been a bit more serious and deeper than what it was, and while I love Sonic's resolve that friendship can solve all, in this case, it wasn't helping to build that tense plot I was looking forward to seeing.**

 **Second, I will be including my Avatar- a dark grey male wolf with light blue eyes, and a red, black and silver jacket- who will still be named 'Rookie', due to being unable to give him a proper name... rather annoying, that.**

 **Third-I will be including Infinite's backstory and any other information from the Sonic Forces game and comics, but I'll be changing a few things to make the story flow better, since there were quite a few plot holes, and just things I wasn't pleased with overall. For the most part, however, this story should be mostly canon to the game and digital comics.**

 **Fourth, this will update kinda randomly, as I am still working on other projects that I need to complete. I just wanted to get my version of a rewritten Sonic Forces game out there, since I assume there are so many out there now trying to solve similar issues with the game I had.**

 **Finally, any constructive advice or criticism, thoughts, questions and concerns are always welcomed, but no flamers.**

 **With that, please enjoy, and sorry that had to be so long! I own nothing but the rewritten plotline.**

* * *

 **Peace and War**

 **Chapter 1: The Beginning Of the End**

Dr. Eggman paced to and fro his office, angrily knowing at his tenth pen in the last hour. How?! How had that blasted idiot Sonic defeated him yet AGAIN?! It was becoming so bad most of his troops were making a running gag of his constant defeats! Of course, he destroyed them, but still... HOW?!

"Argh... Sonic the Hedgehog..." he hissed as he stared at his monitor. It contained all of the blue hedgehog's statics, videos of his running speed, his Super Sonic form, locations of Chaos Emeralds, and numbers. He slammed his fist on the monitor, pissed.

"Every single time... for YEARS... you have bested me. But not this time. For now..." The round doctor swiped his hand over a panel, and the screens shifted. He grinned almost manically as he stared at his newly complied research. It was labeled **'PROJECT RUBY'.**

One of Eggman's robotic minions, Orbot, hovered over his shoulder to take a closer look. "Oooooh! What's that, boss?"

Eggman angrily swiped him off before facing his computer screen once again. The project was far from completed; in fact, the main computer doing the anaylsis was in the Mystic Jungle as he spoke. It needed time to truly process the power the strange stone may contain.

Eggman grinned almost madly as he stared at his work. The gem had potential- after he picked it up and saw what his desire was- Eggmanland, where people would bow down and finally, FINALLY, that damn hedgehog was finally DESTROYED- he knew he had to keep it, and find out what else it could do.

As fast as he could physically manage, he built a new lab in Mystic Jungle, where the gem was currently staying, and he monitored his work elsewhere. He smiled even wider as he stared at the memorizing colors and swirls that lay within what he believe was a 'ruby'. To the scientist, it reminded him of a... a reaper? A ghost? A spirit? No, that couldn't be right! Maybe it was a reaper? No!

He paced to and fro. The name was eluding him. What was he thinking of? It wasn't a reaper, but more like a...

"A phantom..." He let the word roll of his tongue. Phantom... Ruby? "Phantom Ruby... Phantom... yes... YES! That's it!" Quickly, Eggman typed something on the keyboard. When he finished, he looked up at the bold lettering and nodded, crossing his arms and looking at the hard work he was putting into the ultimate plan- the plan he KNEW would kill Sonic once and for all!

 **'PROJECT PHANTOM RUBY'**

Just as Eggman was enjoying his newfound name for his ultimate plan, the alarm sounded. His face twisted into one of anger- someone dared to trespass on his property?! He quickly pulled up a monitor that showed the lax security of Mystic Jungle, and his eyes almost bungled out of his head.

"No... NO! They're heading right for my secret lab! If they get that ruby, my plans are ruined!" Turning around in such rapid fashion that Cubot, who'd been wiping a glass dome for transport when the research was completed, was almost sent flying, Eggman demanded, "GET MY DAMN EGG MOBILE! NOW!"

* * *

Eggman was unaware that, in his rage, the Phantom Ruby, as it was now called, had 'sensed' his anger and frustration, and in a way, answered for his master; the gem created several Egg Pawns that were abnormally stronger than the normal ones. They guarded the lab and were ready for battle.

"Attack! Take everything you can find! There's bound to be something worth selling in this junk heap!" The bold, yet calm voice of the leader of this group, known as Defense Squad Jackal, ordered. His signature red sword showed no mercy as he rushed the lab, looking with anything of value. With his heterochromatic eyes, dark ebony fur, and bright, stiff white 'locks', the leader appeared to be an embodiment of fear to others... but not to a pissed off scientist.

As Eggman headed top speed towards the Mystic Jungle, he realized the leader looked strangely familiar... but why? It didn't stay in his head for very long- he had other issues to worry about. Thanks to a handy secret door, and a handy secret code, Eggman was quickly able to make his way into his lab and retrieve his precious possession before the intruders could get inside and steal it. He exited just as quickly as he was able to get in- and was confronted by what he assumed to be the leader.

"Oi. Fatman... what is that thing? It looked pretty valuable." The leader advanced on Eggman, who suddenly had his own line of defense in the form of more materialized Egg Pawns, once again thanks to the glowing gem in his hands. The jackal's eyes widened slightly at the shock of what he'd seen, before he faced Eggman with a grin on his face.

"Ah... it's valuable AND powerful. Then I guess you won't mind me taking it!" he roared as he charged the Pawns, his sword ready to strike.

He didn't calculate how strong the Egg Pawns would be, however. As his team of five came to assist their leader, he ordered them to instead engage the Pawns. the leader had an evil glint in his eye as he ran past the battle, going to Eggman, who was watching the battle with a mix of amusement and wonder.

So unaware was he, he failed to notice the leader about to take his life- until the last possible second. Looking up, Eggman saw a shadow looming over him. He quickly dodged, and he and the leader stood staring at each other.

"I'll ask one more time, fatman. Give me that gem! It may be worth quite a pretty penny in the bounty world." The leader said, approaching Eggman with his sword aimed for his throat. Eggman laughed and pressed a button inside his Egg Mobile.

The boxing gloves didn't work for the speedy jackal, who dodged them with ease before coming in for the kill with a battle cry. Eggman barely managed to pull up his dome before he heard the sword colliding rather hard with the dome. Shaking around, the scientist tried to get himself out of there, in order to protect his project. The jackal, however, had other plans. He hopped off the dome of Eggman's Egg Mobile, and struck again, hoping to break it.

"Damn! I gotta get out of here or that thing's gonna kill me!" He checked behind him- the Egg Pawns seemed to have the rest of the jackal's team tamed, more or less. Eggman pulled forward, causing the leader jackal to miss his next strike, and once again, employed the boxing gloves to stun him.

Shockingly, it worked. The jackal staggered back, and Eggman felt safe enough to lower his dome and fight back to get his precious project out of that hell hole. Panting, the jackal let out another, deeper battle cry and charged at Eggman again. Eggman moved back so fast, the jackal hit the Phantom Ruby- and almost took off his arm, though he did leave quite an injury.

That, however, was nothing compared to what Eggman, the jackal and two members of his team witnessed next. The scenery around them changed. It became desolate, empty, cold... destroyed. The jackal's eyes widened as he witnessed something he'd only thought about come to fruition right in front of him, and Eggman... well, he was just amused. There was something about this creature, something useful and almost... demonic. He was cold and calculating, something he clearly hadn't been expecting.

'This thing could be useful to me... and to this project...'

As the jackal sat back on his hunches in surprise, Eggman approached him, placing the Phantom Ruby in his breast pocket. The jackal looked at him, completely mesmerized. "W-wha... what the hell was that?" he asked.

"I guess... it was what you wanted. A desolate world... fascinating." Eggman continued to approach the shocked jackal carefully, not wanting to make a move that could end his life.

"Tell me, creature. Do you like being alone?"

The jackal shook his head. Did he want that vision...? Wait, no! He didn't want some silly vision! But it was a thought- HIS thoughts.

He mulled the question over, still trying to come down from the sudden shock. He'd never actually put much thought into what he wanted. Up until now, he was just a leader of a mercenary team that made their money by stealing. What would he get by destroying the world? Power, perhaps? Nah, he was a leader- people feared them. He could kill anyone and get rich. His teammates... well, they were all he knew.

Growing up, his parents feared him because of his uniqueness- or rather, his father hated him. His mother... she looked just like him, right down to the heterochromia eyes. But it was hard for her to love him after an attack on their home- an attack from the government because of his unique genetic makeup, and because humans were just evil, sadistic creatures- scarred him for life.

His father was willing to give him up, just to get rid of him. It angered him every time he was forced to think about it.

His father hated him for something he could not control, his mother... she was forced to suffer in sick ways because she chose to protect him, and even though he tried to save her, his father ultimately cast him out. Threw him away, and lied to his mental destroyed mother...

The jackal felt anger rise in him. Because of humans, his mother believed he didn't love her, that he would just leave her like that, and she never forgave him. He was forced to grow up fast, and he struggled. No one was with him. He'd always been alone, and no one had cared about him.

The jackal stood. Perhaps that thought was a sign? Perhaps he could right the wrongs that humans forced onto his family, that forced him to a hardened creature that he was today.

"I grew up alone." the jackal finally answered the scientist's question. "I was forced to because of you filthy, damn humans. So tell me something, _doctor..."_

A fire red sword was now aimed at Eggman's throat, seething anger very well felt now. "Why shouldn't I just kill you and take everything here?"

Eggman chuckled nervously, but was surprised- this creature had promise, if he could play his cards right...

"I want a world in which all bow down to me. I want a world where there is no more Sonic the Hedgehog! No hope for the world without the one reason people wake each morning, why people walk the streets without fear... "

The jackal lowered his sword, his interests once again piqued. "You... want to destroy this world and the humans on it... just to take over it? What exactly would you gain out of that?"

"Why, power, of course!" Eggman exclaimed, his hands in the air. "All will fear the might Dr. Eggman!"

The remaining team joined him, all looking at Eggman with suspicion- and then looking at the jackal at shock he hadn't taken the scientist's head off yet. One of the members, a green- eyed jackal, approached his leader.

"Boss, come on, don't listen to him. Something's off about him. You don't need whatever he's offering you."

But the jackal heard one thing- power. More power... humans would actually FEAR him. Maybe... it wouldn't be such a bad idea after all...

Eggman could see he was making progress and extended his hand out to him. "Do we have a deal?"

The leader stuck his sword in the ground. He didn't know this doctor, and something still felt off- after all, he was a human and they were known to lie. But he'd steal the tech after gaining the man's 'trust'. He'd never know what hit him.

A hand took the doctors, and the jackal smiled. "Fine. Dr. Eggman, you said? We have a deal."

Eggman wanted to jump around, but just smiled professionally and agreed. "And who do I have the pleasure of doing business with?"

"Call me... Infinite."

* * *

 **2 Months Later...**

Eggman was pleased. The analysis of the Phantom Ruby was nearly complete. In just a few mere minutes, he'd have the secrets of the ruby unlocked. Now if he could find a worthy test subject...

The alarm sounded. Eggman checked the monitor- he swear it was deja vu from before- and this time, he quite literally fell out of his seat when he saw who was infiltrating his lab.

"SHADOW THE HEDGEHOG?! But how?! That place is heavily guarded! How did he get so deep into the facility?!"

Eggman quickly checked his monitor and noticed the five members of Defense Squad Jackal- the very team who tried to steal from him a couple of months prior, and who he ended up employing after striking a deal with their leader, Infinite- dead. Three of them had their own weapons sticking out of their chest, while another two lay across the area, a gun laying near the body of them. Eggman growled in anger- he needed that damn hedgehog dead already!

"The computer analysis was already done, so... no! Even with the ruby research done, I still need this lab!" Pushing a button, he pulled up a screen, which showed the leader, Infinite, heading to his team's last known location.

"You! Infinite! Your team was useless! Stop Shadow and clean up this mess!"

Infinite was secretly hoping he could rip Eggman's head off for disrespecting his team like that. One of his teammates had radioed him earlier as he was on his own rounds, and it sounded horrid. He barely got the coordinates before the connection cut off. Infinite hurried, hopping stealthily from one rock to another, wondering what had happened to his team that they were not responding to his orders.

They were among the best of the best mercenaries alive! There is no way they should have been defeated!

As Infinite approached the coordinates given, he froze, his eyes unable to believe what he was seeing.

Blood was everywhere. The bodies of his comrades, scattered like spilled trash, some with their own swords out of their chests. Hopping close, Infinite spotted one teammate who's ragged breathing was painful to hear, since he suffered several gunshot wounds to his chest, legs and arm.

Infinite's hands shook as he cradled his teammate, the blood still warm and sticky on his hands. "Who did this to you? What happened?!"

The green-eyed jackal could barely focus on his leader. He coughed, blood sputtering onto Infinite's chest. Infinite realized that this was the first time in a very long time in his twenty something years of life that he felt real fear. His friend was dying... the very one he'd grew with since he was a teen, and the first member of the squad he'd employed.

"Hey! Who did this!? Answer me!" Infinite cried out, shaking his friend to keep him awake. His head lolling, the dying jackal barely breathed a single word before he succumbed to his injuries.

"...shadow..."

Infinite watched as his friend's eyes closed, the last breath leaving his bullet riddled body. He gently laid him on the ground, and looked around at the other bodies of his fallen teammates. Anger once again surged in his veins. Shadow...? What was that? WHO was that?

As if on cue, an ebony and red hedgehog appeared. He stood with his arms crossed, staring up at the large metal door that led to the lab where Eggman kept the Phantom ruby. Infinite remembered Eggman demanding he stop a 'Shadow'; was that hedgehog him?

"You..." It had to be!

The hedgehog turned around. All Infinite would remember were those piercing red eyes that stared at him as if he were lesser than he.

"What? Got a problem?" Shadow said, not impressed with the angry jackal staring him down. He turned back around and focused at the task at hand. "If you don't have anything to say, then get lost."

Infinite was PISSED! First this thing dares to kills his team, and now he talks down to him as if he were not a feared mercenary?! His claws balled into fists, and he summoned his sword. This guy was going to pay!

"You killed my squad. And now you dare to talk to me as if you're some hot shot, you bastard..." Infinite jumped down to face Shadow, his fangs baring. He was going to pay, alright... him and Eggman.

"Now you'll see why they call me the ultimate mercury! GRAHHHHH!" Infinite charged head on towards Shadow, sword pulled back.

"TAKE THIS, YOU PIECE OF SHIT!"

Shadow looked at him and scoffed before he dodged the raging jackal's crazed attacks with ease. "Listen. You cannot hope to defeat me. Stop this nonsense." Shadow said flatly, not at all impressed with whom he was fighting.

That alone enraged Infinite more. He yelled and swung, making what most would consider to be 'rookie mistakes'.

"DIE! DIE, YOU BASTARD! DIE!"

Shadow moved fluidly to and fro, dodging the swings with his arms crossed and his permanent scowl on his face. He really wasn't impressed, and decided enough was enough. He had a recon mission to complete.

With a swift kick, Shadow connected his skated foot with Infinite's jaw, sending the jackal flying into some nearby rubble, and into the body of another one of his squad. Infinite stood up, wiping the blood from his jaw, and charged at Shadow again, fists flying. He ignored his sword, getting so angry it was beginning to cloud his judgement.

"Just die already! You have to pay, Shadow the Hedgehog!" Infinite swore, madly swinging his sword.

Shadow was beginning to realize rationalizing and talking to this guy wasn't going to work. Not to mention he was getting in the way of his mission. He snapped his fingers, and summoned six bright red spears.

"Time to end this." With a flick of his wrist, Shadow sent the six Chaos Spears towards a defenseless Infinite. Unable to block them, Infinite let out a howl of pain as four of the spears pinned him to the wall. Blood began to drip down his arms and legs as he sat there, panting as his adrenaline finally came down. He was beginning to register the pain he was in and his head hit the wall- hard.

Shadow was now in front of him, his hand pushing Infinite's skull so hard into the stone, the jackal felt he could hear blood rushing to his brain. He struggled to break free, and managed to pull his arms free from two of the Chaos Spears, but it wasn't enough. Shadow was stronger than he... it infuriated Infinite!

"W-why... why did I..."

Shadow stood and snapped his fingers again. The Chaos Spears disappeared. "Huh... worthless lifeform." He commented, before making his point across by a swift series of punches and kicks. Infinite could only dodge a few of them before he simply had no energy left.

"Don't ever show your pathetic face around me again." Shadow said before he stepped away from the defeated Squad Jackal leader and continued through the metal gate. Infinite was struggling to get air in his bruised lungs, and he pulled himself up before his body gave up and slouched against the rubble.

His pride and ego were beyond bruised. Infinite could not understand it! Eggman thought of him and his squad as nothing more than pawns to be led to slaughter, and it was HIS fault for agreeing to working with him! For what?! For a damn gem he knew nothing about?! He should've killed them when he had the chance... he would still have them now...

Infinite glanced down, and it was then he noticed... his hand were covered in blood and they were shaking. Badly. What was happening? Was he... scared? His heart was pounding in his chest. It felt like it would burst.

"Me... he's calling me... worthless? He find me weak...?!" Infinite mumbled to himself. "Afraid... I'm afraid? Of what? No... no, no I... I'm not worthless..."

Once again, Infinite's insecurity, his mega bruised pride and ego, and the pain of losing his team came to a head. He was falling into a deep, dark abyss... and it caused him to make a choice that would change his life forever.

"I'm not weak... I'm not... I'm not weak! I AM NOT WEAK! URRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGHHHH!"

It was his mantra... one that would stand in his mind as the only thing that mattered. The only thing giving him purpose.

 **"I'm not weak..."**

* * *

Eggman grinned wickedly as he picked up the finished, final Phantom Ruby prototype. It was his best work and he turned to its test subject, holding it out to him.

"Infinite... are you sure you want to do this?"

The jackal, now donning a cracked mask that exposed only his gold eye, as well as scars from the battle with Shadow, looked at the doctor and simply extended his hand out. Eggman gave him the gem and stepped back, eager to see the results of his greatest plan to date.

Infinite pressed his hand with the gem to his chest, slightly over his heart. He felt the prototype's power flowing in him, slow at first, but becoming stronger, more intense. He curled into a ball as the power hovered him in the air, the pain coursing through his body. It hurt like nothing he'd ever experienced before, and for a moment, he wondered if he made a smart choice.

 _'I am not weak... I am not... WEAK!'_

His mantra rang in his head, and he forced his organic body to absorb the full power of the Ruby, which allowed it to fuse permanently to his chest. Once he came to, he knew this was it.

No one would ever insult him again. No one could drag him down. No one would see him as lesser than they.

He was perfect... he was ultimate!

* * *

 _'That day, I gave up my own unsightly face. And I let go of the 'old' me, the me that was weak, so that I could become stronger._

 _And at last... I finally gained the power... the power to make all yield to my will._

 _I... was... REBORN!'_

* * *

 **And complete! The end of the first chapter of my version of Sonic Forces.**

 **This is definitely gonna be a project, but I've drafted out the next eight chapters already. I just want to know what you all think of this first one. Let me know in the reviews if there is any questions, comments, contrastive criticism, etc.**

 **Until next chapter!**


	2. An Anti-Hero's Reunion

**Hello all! Onto the next chapter. I would like to know what people think of my version, so please stop by and read, or pass it along to others who would be interested!**

 **With that, enjoy! I own nothing.**

* * *

 **Peace and War**

 **Chapter 2: An Anti-Hero's Reunion**

 **One and a Half Months Before the War...**

Shadow paused as he took in the damage of the ruined city. While there was no official war, the damage had already been done. From what he had gathered on his intel runs, nearly 65 percent of the Main City had been destroyed by Eggman, who was using a robot powered by something he never saw before.

Rouge was back at their home base, safely hidden away underground in the city. She had been monitoring the damage done, as well as keeping up with those who were evacuated, those who were missing, and those who were already found dead. All the while helping Shadow find out why Eggman was doing what he was doing, yet he was still so quiet...

The teen bat sighed, leaning back into her chair, and looked sadly at the photos of citizens whose lives were taken. Eggman's robot was something the mobians had never faced before- and that said quite a lot! She chewed her lip as she glanced over at the data her other friend, E123-Omega, had sent her so far.

All he gathered was that the robots were not running off the life energy of animals, as they had used to be. These robots were stronger, and much harder to take down. Hence why the bat decided to have her two friends do some recon and find out more about Eggman and his plot. Something was definitely happening around there... something huge.

"Rouge. Come in. Rouge!"

She snapped out of her thoughts and pressed a button on her communicator. "S-Shadow? I'm here; everything alright?!"

The ebony hedgehog looked around once more, collected data for the area, and moved forward. "This is the third time you've zoned out, Rouge."

Rouge rubbed her eyes. She really hadn't meant to, but with all that they've lost... it pained her to know she didn't save people, couldn't figure out what Eggman was planning! She, in all honesty, was tired.

Tired of losing, tired of being in the dark, tired of losing innocent lives to that man. He had to be stopped! But she had to focus. She just had to stay focused.

"Sorry, Shadow. Just a lot on my mind." She apologized, checking a secret communications line with people from the Intelligence Division. _'Hopefully they've got something for me, because we can seriously use a break.'_ she thought as she worked.

Shadow didn't reply to his friend's reply. He had seen how hard she'd been at work, trying to stop Eggman and whatever he'd been planning. It bothered him how oddly... silent Eggman had suddenly gone. He knew from experience working alongside the doctor that when he got quiet like this... all hell was about to break loose. _'As if hell hasn't already broken out...'_

Rouge's voice brought him back to the present. "I got something... listen. I heard back from my spy over in the Intelligence Division. Apparently, there's some kid of large scale army at an unknown base of operations. But- and this is very weird- the place looks like it hasn't been used in a long time."

She typed a few things into her computer, then sent the information over to Shadow's wrist communicator. Shadow looked down as he skated through the ruined city at the images Rouge sent him.

"Huh... you're right. There isn't anything there. Are you sure this 'spy' of yours sent you the right information?" he questioned. Over his ear piece he could hear Rouge roll her eyes as she huffed in slight annoyance and chuckled lightly to himself.

"Trust me, they are more reliable than you think. Ugh... hedgehogs..." She scoffed before she continued. "Anyways, there isn't a reason for that army to be there, smart-ass. So that's where you come in."

Shadow leapt over some fallen debris as he made his way to the coordinates. Of course. The ultimate lifeform on the ultimate mission. "Not your garden variety recon mission, is it?" he grumbled to himself. Rouge laughed as she answered, "Nope. Not at all. Anyways, hurry to that location. Omega already headed out, so you two can link up on site."

The bat could see rather than hear Shadow's scowl as he immediately complained. She laughed as Shadow stammered, seemingly speechless, and took another sip of her coffee.

"I can handle this on my own... and I'll be doing this MY way." he clarified. No way was he dealing with Omega on a recon mission again! The last one almost cost him his legs and he was not looking forward to another trip down THAT lane.

"You know, Omega said the exact same thing." She leaned back, this time with her mug in hand, and took another sip. "You two really do go together like chili and hot dogs!"

Shadow was thoroughly NOT pleased by the reference. "Cut the chatter. I'm on my way."

The connection cut, and Rogue smiled in amusement. The best of friends, no matter what that hard-headed, hardened heart hedgehog wants to believe. She glanced down at her mug, half full with lukewarm coffee-light creamer, no sugar- and shook her head before setting it aside and going back to work.

 _'Shadow... you don't know how much hope you can give me sometimes... even when you can be the biggest hard headed hedgie on the planet.'_

* * *

Shadow kept skating towards the middle- or what used to be downtown-of the main city. He checked on the few survivors along the way, and assessed the damage from random major structures. The whole while, Shadow focused on one mission- finding Eggman and stopping whatever this 'plan' of his was.

"Where are you, Doctor..." he mumbled to himself. He hurried to Omega, seeing he was close by, when the strangest thing happened.

Through his communicator, he was hearing static. At first, Shadow was sure he busted the thing fighting some Egg Pawns along his route, and he stopped, checking the earpiece. But to his shock, it sounded perfectly fine. His red eye narrowed in suspicion as he fixed the piece back in his ear.

"Rouge? Omega? Answer me, either of you!" He demanded. Again, he was met with static.

A nervous feeling crept up Shadow's spine as he hurried with urgency to link up with Omega. Maybe Rouge just got up to stretch her legs, but then why didn't she say something? She knew they had to stay in constant touch should something occur!

"Rouge! Omega! Come in! Answer me!"

Shadow wasn't sure what was going on, and the dread was growing a bit more, until:

"E123-Omega reporting. Extermination proceeding without incident. No problems to report."

Shadow heard Rouge gasp rather loudly and his ears fflattened against his skull as she screeched, "What?! Extermination?!"

 _'Dammit, Omega...'_ Shadow thought annoyed as he paced himself once again. He calmed down rather quickly, as Rouge sounded like she was fine, albeit very shocked from the check- in she just heard. The static more than likely came from wherever Omega had 'exterminated' meeting up at the recon location.

"This is a RECON mission, Omega! You can't go making a big scene!" Rouge exclaimed in disbelief. Shadow simply shook his head. He was close now- about a five minute skate away.

"Rouge... seriously. You should have known better than to send OMEGA on an op like this..." he muttered.

"Shut up, Shadow."

The communication dropped, and for five blissful minutes, Shadow lost himself in thoughts of his life, as he was prone to doing, and wondering what Maria would be doing if she had lived... she'd be what, 62 or something like that? Perhaps she'd be part of the resistance... the others would get to meet her... Sonic would be the blue bastard he is and try to impress her, and they'd be fighting-

"Come in! Unknown hostile encountered!"

Thoughts were cut short at Omega's sudden call. He sounded like he was in distress, and wait- did he say 'hostile encountered?'

"Omega? Where are you? I'm a minute away-"

"Rouge come in! Position currently unknown! Coordinates lost! Come in... c'innn-" Static, then nothing. Omega was cut off completely. Shadow's eyes widened in utter shock.

"Omega?! Answer me!" Shadow screamed. Nothing, not even a small sound, happened. "Damn! Rouge, where is he?! Give me his coordinates, NOW!"

Rouge was typing before Shadow could complete his thought. It was like their robotic friend just dropped off the face of the ruined earth! She was worried- did someone hack him? Was he safe? Could he still send Shadow some sort of message to let him know where he was?

"Shadow, where are you?! I can't locate Omega anywhere!" Rouge was clearly freaking out now. Shadow finally arrived at the recon link up site, but Omega was nowhere to be found. The ebony hedgehog knew he had no time to check around- Omega was in danger!

Suddenly: "This is E123-Omega. All sensors offline. Damage to parietal lobe region." Shadow pressed the piece to his ear. Now this thing HAS to be broken! Did he hear him right?

"Casualty report: Rouge has fallen. Shadow is to be eliminated!" Omega sounded... rather strange. Like someone was trying to talk through him.

"Omega? It's me, Shadow. Where are you? What's happening?" No reply. Shadow growled in annoyance. So much for a garden variety recon mission...

"I am E123-Omega."

"Wha-? Omega?" Shadow blinked at the random introduction- that caught him a bit off guard. "Omega? Where the hell are you?"

A long pause, then: "Unidentified system intrusion... e-e-emergency withdrawal... I am the m-m-m-most powerful-!"

The strange 'Omega' voice stopped. Static sounded, but it wasn't normal. In fact... it sounded very familiar to Shadow. But where?

Rouge slammed her fist on the keyboard. She'd lost Omega's signal... and their friend. "Shadow... I can't find him... he's gone..." she said, anger causing her to shake. "I lost him, Shadow!"

"Rouge!" Shadow's sharp voice cut through her anger haze, and she looked up at her monitor. Shadow was just as angry, she could tell. His anger was a eerie calm one, but even he couldn't contain it- his hands had balled into fists and he was quickly scanning his next move.

"Rouge... relax. I'll find him. Just keep an eye on things. I've got this." he said after a moment. He skated further into the city, where he ran into a not so familiar foe standing mere feet from a partially destroyed familiar robot.

"Omega..." Shadow breathed. The figure, wearing a strange mask that only showed one yellow eye, was staring at his work as if he were proud of it. He kicked a piece of Omega's arm before he looked up, then at Shadow.

"Oh... and a not-so-tall, dark and brooding guest has finally arrived. I've been expecting you... Shadow the Hedgehog." The mysterious figure announced. Shadow crossed his arms and stood his ground, not the least bit intimidated.

"Tell me what did you do to Omega." he demanded. The figure scoffed at the request and dismissively waved his hand.

"The world's strongest robot, and he was no more a challenge than crabmeat..." He said arrogantly as he hovered in the air. "Weaklings like him are of no consequence." Shadow still wasn't intimitaded, but there was a small problem he wanted to address.

"How do you know my name?"

The white and black creature tilted his head a little to the left, and Shadow wondered why his head was suddenly feeling... heavy. And why that static sound was back again. Who WAS this guy?

"Oh come now, Shadow. You say you do not remember me, yet I remember you so very well..."

The ebony hedgehog's red eyes narrowed as he stepped closer. This guy was beginning to piss him off, and he was about ready to take him and that big mouth of his down once and for all. "I don't know who the hell you are..." he said slowly, anger seething through each word, "... and the only thing of no consequence around here is that big mouth of yours."

The creature looked down at Shadow, smirking behind the metal mask. "I am Infinite." Shadow made a note of the name. He was going to pulverize him and drag him back to whatever Eggman base it came from before he took the round scientist down once and for all...

"To you, it was just another in a long list of Eggman bases you tore down without a second thought..." Infinite sounded... almost fond of the memory as he spoke. He touched back down onto the ground and stepped forward towards his foe. Shadow, on the other hand, was completely baffled. Had he seen that thing before on any of his missions? He was certain he'd remember if he did...

He didn't have much time to think about it, as Infinite had suddenly appeared in front of him, clawed hand swiping through the air. Shadow barely managed to teleport out of the way. The static had also increased in his head, and his vision was beginning to waver. Even so, he blinked it off and stood to fight. Something about this guy was really off, almost... possessed.

"I've... only... become this way... because... of YOU!" Infinite roared, coordinating punch after punch behind his words. Shadow blocked all of them, then parried with kicks to push him back. When that managed to work, Shadow teleported back a few feet and raised his hand, preparing some Chaos Spears to launch at him.

"Because of me...? I do not know **_who you are._** " Shadow said, past the point of annoyed. He flicked his wrist and sent the spears after Infinite, who dodged them all with speed and ease. Once again, the masked jackal was in close proximity to the hedgehog, and this time, his hand was flicking with something... warped. The static increased inside the hedgehog's head, making him dizzy.

"I suppose that's the way it goes..." He muttered, and for a split second, he thought he heard... Disappointment? Whatever it was, it was gone just as quickly as he heard it. Infinite slammed his hand into Shadow's chest- hard enough to force air and a bit of blood up his throat. Shadow saw colors and shapes warping all around him, and Infinite's laughter ringing in his head as he fell.

"Thanks to this limitless power, I have become unstoppable. Now, Shadow the Hedgehog... take THIS!"

Shadow only heard the insane laughter of a very lost soul before his vision faded to black.

* * *

 _Shadow opened his eyes and saw familiar blue skies above him. His head was aching as he slowly sat up and assessed himself._

 _His chest was... not bruised? He pressed his hand to where Infinite slammed his claw into him, and sure enough, he felt nothing. No pain, no sharp sting, nothing. He wasn't tasting copper, and his head felt clear._

 _What just happened?_

 _Standing up and stretching his back, Shadow looked around. Where exactly was he?_

 _"Shadow? Shadow?! Can you hear me?" Rouge? Where was she? Where was HE? What was happening?_

 _"R-rouge? Wha- what's... going on? That..." He paused. NOW he remembered. It was because of HIM!_

 _"That guy... what happened to Infinite?" Shadow demanded as he moved forward, trying to find the way out. Rouge was confused._

 _"Huh? You okay, Shadow?" she asked. She honestly sounded baffled. But why? Didn't she see it? She had to have saw that fight!_

 _"Infinite! Jackal with a metal mask! Surely you saw him! I was fighting him!" He screamed. He wasn't going crazy... he knows he fought that mad creature! He felt the blows, felt his flesh when he struck him! How did she not see ANY of it?!_

 _"Umm... Shadow I didn't see anyone but you. Remember? You were going to pick up Omega-he was destroyed three months ago!"_

 _Shadow froze in his tracks. Three months? Omega... no, no, no. Now he knew something was off._

 _"Rouge... I just found Omega not even an hour ago. How the hell was he destroyed THREE months ago?!" he hissed. Rouge chuckled lightly but didn't answer. Getting pissed, the hedgehog decided to just find a way out. He needed to find Infinite._

 _"When I find you... I'll end you." Shadow swore. This place DID look painfully familiar, but from where?_

 _Soon, Shadow arrived at the coordinates where Omega was supposed to be laying in a pile of parts. But there was no parts, no Omega, nothing. Shadow looked around, twice, then radioed Rouge._

 _"Strange... Omega should be here. But there's no sign of him anywhere. Rouge, are you certain this is the right location?"_

 _Rouge laughed. Shadow was getting real tired of hearing that laughter. "What exactly is so funny?!" he snapped. She laughed more, then calmed down enough to explain herself._

 _"Yeah, it sure seems like that. But it's probably because it never really happened!" Rouge said happily, a bit too giddy about the whole thing. Shadow was getting a headache from all the confusion and slammed the ear piece down on the ground._

 _"What the hell is happening?!"_

 _Then: "Affirmative. I have never known d-d-de-defeat!"_

 _Shadow whirled around in sheer confusion. That was Omega, no doubt about it, but how? Where?! "Omega! Where are you?!"_

 _"I am not defeated. I am not weak." He heard that before... someone once said that to him? Or was it an aftermath? A passing thought of a battle he fought and left? But who was the last person he fought?_

 _"I am not weak... I AM NOT WEAK... I AM NOT WEAK... I AM... N-N-NOT W-W-WEA-K..." The voice warped out into that weird mantra over and over... I am... not weak? Why would Omega be saying something like that? Where had he heard that before?_

 _'My head... what is happening?' Shadow thought wearily as he kept skating. His head was beginning to hurt. Bad._

 _Eventually, Shadow saw a wave of red intertwining cubes and a glowing red portal. Without thinking, Shadow jumped in, hoping that something good would come out of it._

* * *

"Ngh... wha- where... where am I...?" he groaned as he blinked slowly to adjust his vision. Standing nearby, arms crossed, was Infinite in all his insecure glory. He glanced down upon seeing his visitor fully awake.

"I-I'm back here...?" He muttered, confused. "Was this... an illusion?"

Infinite shook his head no and stepped back so hos ebony friend could collect himself. It was hard to tell if he was amused or not.

"This is reality, Shadow. YOUR reality." Infinite felt the pride, power and arrogance well inside of him, and he laughed manically. "Hahaha... oh this power, and before we've even tuned it!" He paced to and fro, excitement building up. "Just as I thought, this power is unrivaled! Not even Sonic will be able to stop me now! HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

Infinite opened a portal and disappeared into it, laughing the entire time. Shadow was stunned- Sonic...?

"What are you going on about?!" Shadow demanded. This was not going to be good. "Answer me!"

Infinite glanced over his shoulder and Shadow caught a glimpse of the malice in his visible eye. "All will bow down... to ME. Farewell, Shadow... until we meet again."

"Wait, stop! Infinite!" But it was a split second too late- the maniacal jackal was off to locate the intended target of his newly evolved power. At the same time, Rouge's voice cut through his lost haze.

"Shadow?! Finally, the connection's back! What happened? What the hell are you even doing?!"

Once again, Shadow had to flatten his ears- that woman could screech loud enough to make his ears bleed! "Dammit Rouge! What is your problem?!"

She barreled right through his question. "No time! Get out! NOW!"

That shrill put a pep in the hedgehog's step, and he hurried out of the area, wondering what was getting her so worked up. "Wait... where's Omega?"

"He's fine! But the facility's about to give out and you're right in the vicinity of it!" Rouge sent him some coordinates. "Omega's been picked up by Tails; he said he'll get a look at him. For now just get out of there!"

Shadow ran. So she called that faker's sidekick. Well, he wouldn't trust Omega to be in better hands, even if it IS the friend of his frienemy. But he wasn't understanding this... first off, who the hell was Infinite? Why did he claim to have met him before? Shadow had racked his brain, and nothing came up. He just had no clue who that was.

Second, what was Infinite's plan? What was Eggman's ultimate goal, and why was he using Infinite? Could he not tell that it was just a huge ploy?

"Rouge, did you find out anything?" Shadow asked upon his return. He was aching all over, and he really needed a break. Rouge turned and upon seeing her friend, quickly guided him to a nearby chair so he could rest. She then gave him a folder.

"This."

Shadow flipped through the folder and saw pictures of Eggman's Mystic Jungle facility, another facility that Shadow blew to bits, and a picture of the Phantom Ruby project he'd been working for nearly a year.

"What... what is this?" he asked. Rouge shrugged.

"Dunno. It was the project Eggman was so busy working on for months. He called it the 'Phantom Ruby'. The rest of the notes on it are encrypted, though. Still can't get anything more than that."

Shadow knew that gem- Infinite had the same thing on his chest. But what did it do? Those things he created... that virtual world he was trapped in...

"The gem... can create fake realities...?" he mused aloud. "Or is it something only jackals can do? But if that's the case... how come the other members I defeated didn't do what he did? Is he a special case?"

Rouge just stared at her hedgehog friend as he talked to himself, and shook her head. "I'm not even gonna ask, Shadow." she said to herself with a worn- out smile. At least her two friends would be alright.

But the war was going to-

An alarm sounded. The screen flickered red and **'WARNING** ' flashed on and off. Rouge checked the monitor, Shadow following close behind. The monitor switched to a scene Rouge hadn't expected to see just yet.

"Oh my gosh..." she whispered, her hands clasped over her mouth. On her monitor screen, it showed Infinite barreling through Green Hill, strange shapes warping the area behind him as he zipped past. Dozens upon dozens of Egg Pawns were forming from the warped mess and following behind their creator.

"That's not Eggman's robots... that's something else. Is that who you were talking about, Shadow?"

The hedgehog just nodded. That... well, he expected that, but... he didn't at the same time. It seemed like Infinite was heading for another portion of the city- one that hadn't been nearly as hit as others- and he was getting close. Rouge noticed a small something chasing after the Egg Pawns and zoomed in.

"Well, well. Looks like Sonic is on his way. Maybe you don't need to go down there- I mean, with Sonic, that guy won't stand a chance."

But Shadow knew better. Sonic would need help. He had never seen anything like Infinite before. No one has, and whatever Eggman planned to do with him... "Rouge. I'm going out there. He's going to need help."

The two shared a look. Shadow shrugged and stared at Infinite. "Look, that faker doesn't know the power that bastard can use at his disposal. I barely know and I'm the ultimate lifeform. He won't stand a chance." Shadow sighed, getting up and adjusting his hover skates and ring limiters. Rouge took a few deep breaths and pressed a button on her desk. It reveled a blue box, which contained a Chaos Emerald.

"If I didn't know any better..." Rouge said with a knowing smile as she handed her friend the emerald, "I'd say you actually seemed worried about our blue hero."

Shadow took the gem and said nothing. He was concerned for him, but not for the reasons Rouge was assuming. "I'll go on ahead. Meet me there when you can... and watch your six."

Holding the gem out, Shadow said in a loud voice, "Chaos Control!"

Once he was gone, Rouge packed a few things- her communicator, a tablet, and her hand gun and ammunition. She then collected the folder, looked at it, thought about it, and decided to take it with her. Perhaps the little yellow fox would know how to crack Eggman's computer and get more info on that ruby thing.

"... okay. Time to find out what that doctor is planning and put a stop to it."

* * *

 **And complete!**

 **Well, I don't have much to say except please let me know what you think about this one.**

 **Until next chapter!**


	3. A Hero's Demise

**Hello all! Onto the next chapter.**

 **Please enjoy! I own nothing.**

* * *

 **Peace and War**

 **Chapter 3: A Hero's Demise**

 **One and a Half Months Later...**

Tails surveyed the damage, taking some readings with his specially made scanner. His young heart fell as he saw families struggling to evacuate, some with children as young as he was. He wondered briefly about his own biological family, and how they would have reacted to such a disaster...

"Who knows. I'd probably get left behind. Not like I was... " He paused, looking at his fluffy twin tails and smiled sadly. "... normal."

Shaking the dark thoughts that threatened to overtake his mind, he steeled himself and went back to work. Carefully navigating the city, he kept his scanners on, looking for any Egg Pawns that would try and attack him. Since a few days ago, they had been growing in number, and a lot of innocent mobians had lost their lives, homes and loved ones. Tails needed to know why!

He kicked a rock over. He knew they needed Sonic- not just his closest friends, but every single person who lived in this small city. They looked to him for hope, for salvation. And Tails had to wonder, is that why Sonic was always finding someplace to go? To get a break from all the hero work? Frankly, could he blame him? Being a hero for every single being on Earth- and sometimes, outside of their planet- could be pretty stressful.

Sure, Sonic WAS a hero, and as such, was always in the limelight, but that wasn't why he was the hero to his close friends. Every single one of them had been helped in some way, in a way that was just... Sonic. Tail didn't know how to put it.

Sonic cared for justice. He had a huge heard and believed everyone deserved a second chance. But he also had a special place for those who he called a 'family'. They leaned on each other, learned about each other, and it was that reason why they fought each time a force threatened they home.

Tail smiled slightly as he recalled the very first day he met Sonic. He'd been bullied all his life because of his twin tails. It made his first five years very lonely and he was often sad and angry and confused.

Until the day a certain blue hedgehog found his way on his little island. Tails had watched with awe at the speedy blur, amazed but horribly shy and scared. What if he thought he was a freak too? He couldn't take anymore rejection.

 _"Hey kid, ya wanna come with me?"_

Those words... they had changed his life. He'd always been by his side since, despite the fact he was still just a young boy. He was intelligent and very crafty with tools, which saved Sonic on several occasions. Until now, life had been exciting, fun, happy. Until now... he was free to be by Sonic and help him however he could.

Now... it was impending war. He was horrified, if he were honest. Even with Sonic here, Eggman was so powerful, far more than he'd ever seen before... but with what?! How was doing all this damaged in such a short time?

"I have to find out! Everyone is depending on me! Sonic is depending on me!" Tails told himself. He kept on searching, hoping Knuckles had better luck locating people who wanted to be part of the war efforts. They needed all they help they could get right now.

* * *

Knuckles slammed his fist on the monitor of their makeshift underground base. The last Resistance base, the main location that kept watch over the citizens who lived in the bustling city, had been destroyed by Eggman's first 'test' wave of Egg Pawns. It made the echidna pissed just thinking about it.

The surprise attack wiped out the base, but thankfully no one was hurt. Knuckles was able to save his friends- Silver, who had returned from his future for a reason he still had yet to find out, Amy, who had simply been out looking for her Sonic when the first set of tremors happened, and the Chaotix Agency, who simply needed a reason to leave their own tiny home base. They were supposed to link up with Knuckles, who left Angel Island to check on things below.

The dreadlocked fighter wished he could say he knew that this-the damaged city and Eggman's attack-was going to happen. Silver apparently didn't know it, either, as his time frame seemed to be normal. No one had known about the attack... which is what made things so much harder.

It took some time for Knuckles to establish the base they had now, and with Tails' help, they had been able to get what they needed to monitor the scene from below. Knuckles knew that wouldn't be enough. They needed to find Eggman and find out what this whole test thing was for. Everyone was out looking for survivors, and for now, Knuckles counted the lucky stars the casualty numbers hadn't gone up since early this morning.

"Hey, Knuckles! Can you read me?"

Knuckles looked up, and saw Vector and Charmy on his screen. He had assigned them to locate more survivors in the western portion of the city, since it had taken some of the heavier damage. Wondering what was going on, he responded.

"Yeah, Vector. I can see ya. What's happening out there?"

Charmy, for once, was actually speechless... and Knuckles knew, deep in his gut, that something was wrong. Why was Charmy so quiet? "Hello? Vector? What's going on?!"

Vector took a deep breath and said in a low enough voice the stunned six year old bee couldn't hear, "Knuckles... Eggman's pawns wrecked this place. And... well, Charmy, he tried to save this kid and I guess her brother... and the damn thing shot them both in the head. Charmy's... well..."

Knuckles' eyes widened. He had seen his fair share of war since he himself was young, but to see something like that, and to be someone like Charmy... "Oh man... Charmy... Vector, how is he? Be honest with me."

Vector had collected Charmy by now and showed Knuckles what remained of the western portion of their city. Hundreds of innocent lives lost, because of that damn Eggman... Knuckles felt his hands ball up and anger build up. They were trying so damn hard, and this wasn't even the full scale plan of that nutcase doctor's?! People were dying! How was he supposed to stop this?!

"Knuckles... listen. There... damn. No one's left out here. So uh... I want to give em' a proper burial, ya know? At least let them rest a little. Charmy has to come back. He's scarred stiff and I don't think he's processin' this too well." Vector said remorsefully. Knuckles could see Charmy a but more clearly, and the kid was definitely shell shocked. Droplets of blood covered his goggles, vest and right hand. His eyes were wide and he didn't look like he was taking in any air.

"Charmy? Hey, you're gonna pass out like that. Come on and breathe, kid." Vector, thankfully, noticed that Charmy had frozen up and was trying to snap him out of it. Knuckles sighed heavily and ran his hand over his face. This REALLY sucked...

"I'm gonna check in with Tails. He was supposed to linked up with Sonic. Just... come on back, Vector. We'll talk about that... later."

Vector looked at the monitor and nodded once before the communication cut. As soon as that happened, he got an incoming call from Espio. He and Silver were en route to the northern section of the city, which hadn't been hit nearly as hard as most of the city.

"Hey, Knuckles- woah. What happened?" Silver's sharp eye caught the frustration that Knuckles wasn't exactly doing a good job hiding. "What's wrong, Knuckles? Did something happen?"

Knuckles wished he knew how to answer that. He just shook his head and waved it off. "I'll tell everyone later. How's everything going?"

Silver showed Knuckles the progress being made. A large group of people were being ushered out of their homes and into a waiting Resistance vehicle which would take them to a safe shelter. Espio was guiding them inside and issuing orders to keep it moving.

"Thank goodness there were few casualties. We found three people and we gave them proper burials. Now we're getting these folk out of here." Silver explained. He punched in a few things and sent it over to Knuckles.

"These are the names of the people who lost their lives. I figured it would be best to give it to you."

Knuckles glimpsed over the names and moved it to a folder that he would have Amy sort out later. "Thanks Silver. You two, good work out there. You saved a lot of lives."

Silver knew Knuckles was grateful, but the tone his friend used sounded a bit... distant. It would do no good to ask him more than twice- the last thing he needed was him snapping out on him. He gave Knuckles a small smile, but besides that, had no clue what to say to him.

"Me and Espio should be back in an hour or so."

Knuckles nodded, acknowledging he's heard him, and ended the communication. He didn't feel like checking on any more people, especially after the news Vector gave him, but he had one last call to make.

"Amy. It's Knuckles. Can you hear me?"

Amy was out getting a few supplies for the Resistance- mostly food to make sure they ate, and some cheap soap and cleaners. The five bunkers and the makeshift medical bay needed to be clean in case someone was hurt... although Knuckles prayed none of that actually happened.

"Yeah. What's wrong? You don't sound too happy. Any word from the others?" Amy asked as she carefully made her way out the rundown thrift shop, three bags in hand. She had put a long, raggy cloak on so no one would know she was affiliated with Sonic and the others.

"Yeah. Silver and Espio evacuated the north side, and Tails is still out waiting for Sonic and evacuating whoever he can. But Vector and Charmy..." At that, he trailed off. Amy froze.

"What? Vector and Charmy what, Knuckles?! What happened to them?!" she screeched.

"They lost them!"

Silence. Then: "W-What...? Who...?"

"The south side of the city... no one survived and Charmy... he watched two children die in front of him. He's scarred... and Vector is trying to hold it together. I told them to just come back for now. I don't think those two are fit to go out for a bit, but I'm worried about Charmy. He's just a kid..." Knuckles trailed off for the second time. Amy kept walking, unsure of what to say. Her heart went out to the poor kid- how would she have reacted if she were in his shoes?

"Is he...?"

Knuckles sighed heavily. "He's... ugh, I dunno. Charmy's gonna be out of this for a little while. It's for the best."

"Yeah..." She was lost in thoughts. Even with Sonic fighting with them, did they really stand a chance? This wasn't the usual stupid nonsense that would be funny any other day- Eggman was serious. And to lose two young children... Amy felt tears roll down her cheeks, and she struggled with her thoughts.

What would she have done? Would she have been terrified, like those innocents were?

"Eggman will pay for this. I swear it. He'll pay for everyone he's hurt..." Knuckles swore. Amy felt the same- Eggman was taking away so many young lives, so many families broken, people wondering why this had to happen...

Amy didn't mention it to anyone, but she'd found it harder and harder to even go out and buy supplies. It was just heartbreaking... seeing the same people she's once been neighbors with, seeing them with their children and loved ones, and just like that... gone. And this was supposed to be just the beginning?

Knuckles was right- Eggman will pay. One way or another.

"... I'm on my way back. Could you see about Sonic? I haven't heard from him. I hope he's okay..." Amy requested, which made Knuckles smirk a little. It was so clear to see she had a one track mind sometimes... it was something so normal... and by the stars did he miss the normal around here these days...

"Okay. See you in a few."

* * *

Sonic the Hedgehog ran through Green Hill- or rather, what was actually left of Green Hill. It was so sandy, the blue blur thought 'Sand Hill' would be more fitting. He growled in annoyance as he got more sand in his shoes, and had to stop to shake it all out. It was getting to be quite the pain, but even more so given the state of his favorite hangout spot.

"Damn, Eggman... just had to go and ruin things, didn't ya?!" Sonic complained to no one in particular. He let out a huff before remembering he had to hurry to assist the Resistance defense. Knuckles had ordered them to defend Green Hill, but it seemed that wasn't working out to well.

"What kinda defense did you employ, Knuckles?" Sonic shook his head as he neared the site. The defense wasn't exactly raggedy, but they definitely had their share of battles. Most of them were carrying weapons Sonic hadn't seen before.

"Hmm... looks like things are under control here. Even though there isn't much Green Hill left... maybe I should-"

"Sonic! Come in, Sonic!"

Sonic jumped in shock- he forgot about his communicator in his ear. "Sheesh! Tails I hear ya! What is it?"

"Where are you?!" Sonic's eyes narrowed- why did the kid sound so panicky? Not like he didn't any other time, but this time he was really going crazy over there!

"At the Resistance defense spot to help them out. What's-"

Tails cut him off once again. "It's Eggman's forces! He's swarming the city in one massive assault and we need you here, and NOW!" Tails screamed as a blast sounded right near his location; Sonic heard it all and stood up.

"Tails, hold on. I'm not far from the city; I'll be there in a few!" Sonic abruptly ended the call and looked to the leader of the Resistance Defense.

"Listen, the city needs me. I gotta go. You guys good out here?" He asked the captain. The captain, a short, grey bear wearing Army gear, saluted Sonic and said, "Yes sir! We have things handles here, per Commander Knuckles' instructions!"

 _'"Commander?" Wow Knuckles... real full of yourself as usual, man.'_ Sonic thought to himself before he nodded and dashed off. He pressed the call button on his ear piece.

"Knuck, it's Sonic. Listen, Tails said something about Eggman's robos overtaking the city. I don't know what's happening, but I think he needs me. I'm going there now." Sonic dodged falling sand debris and jumped over a sand waterfall, running at top speed to reach the threshold of the city limits.

"Yeah, I'll be fine. I'll talk to you when I get there."

* * *

Tails wondered if there was any time left for him.

Eggman floated over him and a small group of captive mobians who had been unable to escape. Tails could see a way to get them out, but it would be deadly, as the fat man was literally right in front of him. He sent out almost five waves of pawns, all who had a strange glow coming from their faces. Tails staggered back, his arms spread out as he tried to defend the innocents behind him.

If he were honest... he was terrified out of his mind.

"Sonic... please hurry..." Tails muttered as Eggman laughed madly above him.

"So this is all who stands to stop me? A bunch of cowering weaklings and that damn hedgehog's lackey? HA!" Eggman seemed a bit... manic. But from what? What was happening?

"I'll make sure Sonic sees what I will do to you..." A gun glowed with a laser and was aimed for Tails' skull. Tails felt his heart stop as fear gripped him, and he froze. Was this really it? Was he gonna die like this?

"S-Sonic... please..."

As Eggman fired the near fatal shot, a blue blur swooped in and carried him away to a large rock to hide behind. Tails didn't even realize his eyes had been shut until he heard a familiar voice.

"Hey buddy? You alright?"

Blue eyes snapped open and looked up at his savior. He thought he was dreaming at first and quickly pressed his hand to his forehead. Sonic chuckled and set him down, glancing over at the small crowd of people whom Eggman still had trapped.

"S-Sonic... yeah, I... oh god, I thought I..." Tails didn't know how to word his racing thoughts. He just looked at his big brother and said in a shaky voice, "Thanks. T-That... was too close, though."

Sonic winked at him and ruffled his head. "You know me, buddy. Kinda how I roll. Let's go help them out."

Sonic rolled into a ball and used his Spin Dash to stun Eggman. Tails realized what he was doing and shook the last of his shock off, running back to the rock to guide the small, frightened group of survivors out of the area. He ushered them through a small passageway that would lead them to a safety shelter to link up with other survivors.

As Tails evacuated, Sonic faced his long time foe with a confident, cocky smirk and said, "Alright Eggman. Let's actually finish this. I got other things to do."

Eggman just grinned and pressed a button at the same time Sonic attacked using his Spin Dash. Sonic didn't notice anything strange, other than Eggman not gloating like he normally did.

 _'Something's not right. Eggman's too calm... too quiet. What is he up to- oof!'_

Something connected with his stomach and sent his flying into the nearby wall. Hitting his back hard, Sonic fell to the ground, but was able to get up and come face to face with-

"Shadow?! That was you?! But why?!" Sonic didn't notice the off color of his rival's eyes, but he did notice a few more familiar faces.

A large red, black and green creature suddenly materialized in front of Sonic, red eyes gleaming with anger and hatred for the blue hedgehog. Sonic's eyes widened in shock. "No way... Zavok... but I-"

He had no time to finish that thought, as Zavok decided to swing on him. A large fist flew threw the air and nearly smashed Sonic's head into the wall. The hedgehog barely managed to dodge the fist before 'Shadow' decided to attack with another kick. It was then Sonic noticed that both Zavok and Shadow seemed WAY more powerful than what he knew. But how was Zavok even alive?! And why was Shadow working with Eggman _again?!_

As Sonic struggled to get to his feet, he was hit from behind and sent flying into Zavok, who punched him so hard he coughed up blood and flew into the wall again, causing rocks to fall on the ground before him. Sonic wasn't sure he could get up, but he forced his legs to work. Who had hit him now?

Now Sonic knew he was seeing things as he saw a brief glance of shiny metal pieces. "N-No way... Metal? But I scrapped you...! Arugh..." Sonic struggled to his feet and looked over his shoulder. Tails was staring at his busted brother with horror etched on his face.

"S-Sonic... oh god..." Tails didn't really know what he could do. He'd always depended on Sonic to save the day- and him. But he was being defeated, and by enemies he knew had long since died! How was this possible?

Then he remembered his scanner. He looked around for it, knowing he dropped it somewhere near there when Sonic rescued him. As he did, the hedgehog steeled himself and decided to go for the source.

"Eggman... take this!" Sonic yelled, pouring all his remaining energy into his strongest Spin Dash. Locking on Eggman, he launched himself in the air- and was stopped abruptly and painfully by something that grabbed him and slammed him into the broken wall- hard enough to finally shake the foundation and bury Sonic in the rocks.

"SONIC!" Tails was freaking out, but thankfully, he located his scanner a few feet from the evacuee location. The screen was broken but it still turned on.

"Sonic! Can you hear me?!" Tails called out. A hand poked out and pushed debris off of him. Sonic was getting confused as he tried to keep himself upright and focused. A slimy thing wiggled to his right and when he looked at it, Sonic honestly felt the first taste of fear go through him. He was... going to die? Like this?

"Chaos... but how...?" Sonic mumbled as he fell to one knee. "Tails... Tails!"

"Sonic, just hang on! I'm calling Knuckles and trying to-"

Eggman, who had been watching the one sided fight with amusement, snapped his fingers. "Sonic, Sonic... that was nothing compared to what my ultimate creation can do. Why not say hello to it, hmm?"

Sonic looked up and saw a black and white masked creature floating down almost godly. As his feet touched the ground, it swiftly connected with Sonic's jaw and he was once again sent into the four enemies of Sonic's past.

The next few moments were a blur, as Sonic was kicked and punched around like a rag doll. The hedgehog was slowly losing his strength and will to fight as he struggled to wrap his mind over what was happening.

 _'What... is happening... I-I can't beat them! How is this even possible?!'_

Eggman grinned evilly at the sight of his pain in the ass nemesis finally getting what he was long due for. "Nice... " he muttered to himself.

Tails tried to scan the mysterious creature to figure out someway to learn more about the moves and strengths of it, but his scanner was either very broken or was truly unable to scan anything about the foe.

"No way... this guy is insane fast! Sonic can't keep up with him!"

Sonic felt he still had a shot to at least take out the strange newcomer and used his Spin Dash on him, but he dodged it so quickly, Sonic didn't know what had occurred. The next thing he felt was a sharp pain to his head as the newcomer's foot connected cleanly with it. Sonic felt sick and dizzy as he found himself momentarily blinded from the attack.

"T-Tails... what's..." Sonic didn't recognize his own voice, nor that nasty copper taste that crept up his throat. He sounded terrible.

Tails had finally lost his composure by this point, and scrambled to contact his friends. "Knuckles! Please send help! Sonic, he's... I don't know what's going on, but he needs help!" The fox was sobbing almost hysterically as he tried to explain what was happening and staring helplessly at his brother being held captive.

Knuckles could hear the pained grunts from Sonic, Tails' sobbing and hyperventilating, and Eggman in the background, but felt powerless as he was unable to leave the base unattended. "Tails! Listen, I can't get to you just yet! Eggman's damn bots are attacking the north side of the city and Green Hill! What's going on?!"

Someone intercepted the call, making it a three way. "Listen. Kid, Knuckles. Can you two hear me?"

"Shadow...? But, how?"

Shadow was en route to Sonic's location, unbeknownst to the others. Tails was frozen to the spot as Eggman ordered Chaos to capture the very weakened Sonic. Sonic was unable to break free from Chaos' ensnare, and struggled to understand who these creatures were.

"Patience, Sonic the Hedgehog. You'll see soon enough." And Chaos began to put the squeeze on his captive, earning a pained- filled scream that resonated in the ears of a brother who would never forget this day.

"N-No... Sonic... SONIC!"

Eggman noticed the trembling fox hiding behind the large boulder, and chuckled in sheer amusement. "How does it feel to lose the one you care about right in front of you, hmmm? And the best part..."

Sonic had finally stopped screaming, and was limp in Chaos' arms. Blood dripped from the many wounds he'd sustained and his head hung loosely to his chest. Turning towards his master with his prize in grasp, Eggman snapped his fingers towards Tails. Zavok and Shadow approached him, malice so strong Tails could feel it.

"... is that you were too weak to stop me. Farewell."

Shadow arrived just as the 'Shadow' working with Eggman and Zavok punched Tails simultaneously, effectively knocking him out and sending him flying to Shadow's feet. The doctor laughed as he and his henchman flew off, Sonic in tow. The ebony hedgehog checked on the fox, and was actually slightly surprised to see he was still alive.

"Knuckles. Sonic's been captured and Tails is not doing too well. Send me the coordinates to your base. I need to bring this kid back before he's killed... and I have to tell you something about the doctor's little 'project.'"

He then looked up in the direction that Eggman went, then finally surveyed all the blood and damage done. Eggman meant business. The world as Shadow knew it was about to be turned upside down.

* * *

 **And complete! Wow, what a chapter.**

 **Please let me know what you all think!**

 **Until next chapter!**


	4. Hopelessness

**Hello all! Happy New Year everyone! As part of a new year, I'm ready to finish so many of these projects... and this is one of them. So without further ado, here is the next chapter! Please enjoy!**

 **I own nothing.**

* * *

 ** Peace and War**

 **Chapter 4: Hopelessness**

Shadow looked solemn as Knuckles unlocked the hatch to the main base's control room. In his arms he carried an unconscious Tails, along with pieces of a broken scanner. Amy's eyes widened as Silver gently took the small fox from the ebony hedgehog.

"He's just out cold. I don't know if the Doctor or his little project hurt him." Shadow said simply.

Silver carried Tails to the makeshift medical room for treatment. Amy followed closely behind, leaving just Shadow, Knuckles and Espio in the control room.

"What happened?" Knuckles asked, eyes narrowed. Shadow wasn't the lease bit intimidated, and answered, "Just like I told you. The Doctor has unleashed hell on earth, and with Infinite working for him, he's unstoppable."

At the strange name, Espio perked up. "Infinite? What is an Infinite?"

Shadow looked around. "Where is Rouge? She had the data on him and she was due to link up here. And Omega, where is he?"

Knuckles brushed off the first question- Rouge never contacted him so he wasn't made aware about her arrival, although there was something she could do when she arrived. To answer Shadow's second question, he pointed down the corridor Silver had just walked towards.

"Tails found Omega and brought him to out base. But he never got the time to look over him before Eggman struck the city. He still needs repairs. Once Tails wakes up I'll have him look at the robot."

Shadow nodded and crossed his arms. "I'm not sure if that fox will be the same when he does come around..." he muttered more to himself than to anyone. Espio heard him but chose not to comment, unsure of what he was insinuating.

"Tails..." The red echidna sank into a nearby chair, awaiting Vector and Charmy. There wasn't much else to do but wait but Sonic... was he really... gone?

 _'Sonic... what happened? Where are you?'_

* * *

Silver inserted an IV drip into Tails' arm, and had Amy hook him up to a machine to track his vitals. As he checked the young fox over for any hidden injuries, Amy realized something.

"Where is Sonic? Wasn't Tails supposed to have linked up with him?" Silver looked at Amy and then looked back at Tails, sadness gripping him. Amy noticed it and grew worried.

"Silver? What is it? You know something about Sonic?"

Silver tried to find the words to phrase what was happening before he finally settled on telling her the truth. "Amy... Sonic was defeated and beaten by Eggman... and he's got him now. We don't know much else and the only person who knows..."

Glancing back at Tails, Amy allowed the words to sink into her head. Her Sonic... the blue blur who's stopped Eggman countless times before... was defeated and captured?

"No... no, no... t-that's not..."

Silver closed his eyes. It wasn't something he wanted to believe himself, but here he was, tending to Tails and listening to news he wished he didn't have to hear. Opening them, he turned to Amy, who was standing near the door with a dazed look on her face.

"... Amy? Are you..."

The pink hedgehog looked at him. "Sonic's not dead. He isn't dead. He'll stop Eggman- he always does." She was increasing in volume, and Silver knew there was a breakdown coming. She was stepping back from him, trying to exit the room, presumably to find Knuckles and get the truth.

"Amy, I-"

"You're lying! Sonic isn't beaten! He NEVER loses!" she suddenly screamed before darting out of the room. Silver felt a bit hurt at the insult but didn't take it too hard. It was still hard for him to believe himself and he heard the news!

"Tails... please wake up. We need answers. We need to know what happened out there..." Silver patted his head and checked his vitals before sitting down and keeping vigil over him.

This was about to get crazy... Silver could feel it.

* * *

"Hey, Commander. We're back."

Vector was carrying Charmy in his left arm as he entered the door. Charmy was still in his strange catatonic state and had barely so much as breathed since the call. Knuckles glanced at him, then at the large crocodile.

"Take him to the ward. Silver is there; have him look him over and let him rest." Vector nodded and without another word, walked off. Shadow followed him, arms crossed and his usual neutral expression neatly in place.

"What happened to him?"

Knuckles shook his head; he was pretty sure this could not get any worse than what it did. "Kid saw some other kids die." was all he could find to answer. Shadow's eye ridge arched slightly in a bit of surprise.

"Did he. Why isn't he screaming or talking?"

Knuckles faced him and shrugged. "Guess it scared him stiff. I don't know. You'd have to ask Vector." He rubbed his temple and watched his monitors with anger and hopelessness as Eggman marched through the city, leaving blood and destruction in his wake. News reporters- those who stuck around, anyways- were trying to collect information on what was happening in the city.

'This just in! It appears Eggman has finally defeated the world's greatest hero! Eggman has finally succeeded after years and years of defeat-'

Knuckles watched in horror as a mysterious figure cut the young reporter's life short, pulling his hand out of his chest and pushing him off to the side like trash. Picking up the blood-covered microphone, the figure glanced around, and then stared right into the camera.

"People of this miserable planet. I am Infinite. Dr. Eggman and I are now in control of your destiny. There is nothing you can hope to do about that. Especially now..." Infinite sidestepped so the cameraman could capture a good view of a defeated Sonic the Hedgehog, dangling in Chaos's tentacles, blood dripping from his head. Amy, who had stormed in to confront Knuckles about Sonic, Shadow, Espio and Knuckles could only look in complete disbelief, anger and above all, horror.

Amy's hands flew to her mouth, tears running down her face. "Oh god, Sonic... no... NO!"

Infinite chuckled and finished his statement. "... that this pathetic world no longer has a shining becon of hope. Say farewell to Sonic... and say farewell to your world."

The screen disconnected. No one in the room spoke a word, except for a sobbing Amy. Knuckles felt a few tears running down his cheek as he was forced to come to terms with what he had just saw.

"S-Sonic... is really..."

Shadow felt a bit of guilt for being unable to stop Infinite before he could hurt Sonic. As much as he did not like dealing with him, and as much as he wanted to defeat his archrival, to see him like that... it wasn't something he could deal with. He looked to the door, anger coursing through him.

 _'Infinite... damn bastard. You're going to pay for this.'_

"Shadow..." Knuckles felt all strength leave him as he spoke. He didn't know what he was thinking but he needed to do something, anything, to ease his pain right now.

The ebony hedgehog looked at him. "Rouge... is she far from here?"

"I'm not sure. But she'll be here shortly. She may have some information that could help us, but we need your friend. The yellow fox."

Nodding, Knuckles looked at Espio next. "Espio... could you go out and survey the damage? I'll have Silver link up with you once I hear how Charmy and Tails are doing. Locate anything that may be of use to us. And do NOT engage that lunatic!"

The chameleon sense Knuckles' unrest, and under normal circumstances, he would have left without arguing. But this time, Knuckles was becoming a danger to himself as well as the others already here. He stepped to him carefully and said, "Knuckles... I'm sorry, but I'm afraid I will have to decline your orders."

Knuckles was already pissed and angry and hurt. Now Espio was acting against him? "What was that?" he hissed, hands already balled into his powerful fists. Espio somewhat expected this to happen, but stood his ground.

"Listen to me, Knuckles. You are our COMMANDER. You need a clear mind in order to lead, and with what we just saw, everyone is uneasy and scared! Do you really think we have the energy to deal with your anger right now?!" Espio was feeling his head throb as he realized that this was affecting him a bit more than he would have like to admit.

"And you think I can just up and leave the base?! Who's going to be in charge, hmm?! I need to be here! You all need me to be here!"

"Not if you're acting like this! You're not stable and you are going to get us all killed if you lead us like you are! Stop being so damn stubborn, Knuckles!"

Knuckles growled in annoyance and charged at Espio, his spiked aiming for his skull. Espio dodged easily and kept his hands behind his back, not wanting to harm a friend. "Knuckles, just listen! Hear me out!"

"Shut UP! Just shut the hell up!" he roared, punching anything and everything he could. Shadow stepped further to the side, choosing to let the echidna release his anger so he could calm down. Better that then having to deal with cleaning up another body, he assumed.

"Knuckles, listen! Sonic is out friend too! We're all trying to figure out where to go from here, but it will not happen if you are too busy being lost in your own anger! You need some time, some space! Just take it!"

Knuckles was punching wall after all in his blind rage of trying to catch Espio, which worked well- Espio was purposely leading him away from equipment that he knew the rest of the team would need. But he was growing worried- how long could he keep Knuckles occupied before he really did try something stupid?

"That's enough. Knuckles, I'm sorry. But you've left me with no other choice."

Espio sidestepped another swing, and pivoted on his left foot so that he was behind Knuckles. With precise aim, Espio pressed down on Knuckles' pressure points on his neck, which quickly- and effectively- stopped the angry echidna. He caught him as he fell and gently laid him down on the ground so he wouldn't wake up with a sore face. Shadow looked impressed at the ninja's feats, albeit slightly.

"Took you long enough. I was wondering when you planned to stop his anger." Shadow approached the unconsciousness Knuckles and stood over him. Espio sunk to his knees and looked sadly at him as well.

"It shouldn't have to be like this. But Knuckles is his oldest friend... I do not believe he will be handling this as well as I thought he would."

"And how did you think he would handle this, exactly?" Shadow almost scoffed at the plan. Espio shrugged and placed two fingers on Knuckles' neck, checking his pulse.

"Frankly... I don't know. I don't know how anyone is planning to handle such a loss."

Just then, the door opened and familiar heels clicked in sync as she walked in. Shadow looked pleased that Rouge made it in one piece, although she looked like she'd seen better days.

"Well then..." Rouge looked at the unconscious Knuckles on the ground, and the holes all over the place, wondering how there wasn't more people standing here surveying the damage. "Did I miss the party?"

"Far from it, Rouge. Did you bring the folder?" She pulled out the folder and gave it to Shadow.

"Perfect. But I think we had better wait until the rest of them can gather themselves. Sonic... this is going to distract them for awhile." Shadow felt a ping of sorrow for his arch rival and his brutal defeat, but chose to kept that to himself. He still had a reputation to maintain.

* * *

"Charmy...? Hey, man, you alright?"

The small bee hadn't spoken once since the incident. It was like he was trapped in his own mind, processing the information over and over again. Vector had gotten the blood cleaned off his googles, and was almost done wiping the blood of his face.

"Vector. Give Charmy some time. He... he needs some time to process what happened." Silver was monitoring Charmy's vitals after having checked on Tails' vitals not even an hour or so ago. He appeared to be asleep, but Silver could see his eyes fluttering behind his eyelids, meaning he was in a nightmare... or alert enough to be going through something.

"How much time is time, dammit?! He's been like this since them kids got shot!" Vector snapped. Silver just looked at him, silent.

"... sorry." Vector apologized, looking away from his gaze in shame. "I just... I hadn't been expecting to see that myself, let alone... well, him..."

The room fell silent. Every so often, the synchronizing beeps of Charmy and Tails' machines echoed throughout the room, not doing much to ease the worry in either of their hearts.

"Vector. How old is he?" Silver suddenly asked. Vector blinked and looked at him.

"Come again?"

"Charmy. How old is he?"

Vector smirked and then looked down at him, keeping his hand covered over his tiny one. "Six. Kid's kinda like my brother, ya know? Never really had a quiet moment with him always talkin' and shit. Drove Espio nuts, and trust me, that takes a helluva lot of work to do."

Silver smiled a little. He had never met Charmy until he was dragged back to their past, and wondered how come he never saw a Charmy in his own time. It was strange, and a painful thought began to form. But as he glanced at Vector, who was watching Charmy with a protective streak clear as day, not planning to leave his side, Silver decided to keep that thought to himself. He still had yet to explain to the others what he was doing there, anyways.

"So I take it you're the oldest of you three?"

Vector chuckled. "Yep. 20 years and counting. Espio's 15. Kid's too damn serious, but he's a ninja and all that..."

"How did you and him meet Charmy? There's a huge age difference between Charmy and Espio, you know."

Vector actually realized he had to think about that. How did they meet? "You know something... that's a good question. Huh. I mean, I remember meetin' Espio. Well, sorta. He was visitin' Knuckles and Eggman was trying to take over somethin' and... I can't remember the details." Vector shrugged and looked back at Silver. "I have pretty bad memory, honestly. Espio would know more about our meeting, but yeah. After that day, we've been Chaotix ever since."

Silver chuckled. "So you guys are pretty close then, huh."

"Pretttttty much, yep. And Charmy... well, we try to keep him in the office, ya know? Keep him away from... all this." At that, Vector's face fell and he found himself staring at the sleeping bee. "And for good reason. But without Sonic..."

Silver's mood fell at the mention of his dear friend's name. It was thanks to Sonic that his future timeline was saved, even though he lost something dear to him in the process. _'Maybe that's why I'm dealing with this a bit... better.'_

"Hey, Silv?"

"Hmm?"

"How'd you end up here? You're from the future, aren't you?"

Silver nodded. "Yes, I am. But... well, it's kinda of a long story. And confusing too..."

Vector sighed, looking once more at Charmy and Tails before locating a spare chair in the corner. "Well, we both got time til they wake up. And I'm curious. How you know the blue blur, where you come from, the usual."

Silver thought about it, then looked at his new friend with a knowing smile. Of course he'd want to know- Silver never met most of these people back when he first travelled to this time, and while he worked with them a second time, that was the extent of that meeting. So it makes sense- if they were to fight together and save their hero, they needed to know who could be trusted.

"I come from the future. My first time here, me and Sonic, well... let's just say we didn't get along too well..."

* * *

 **And complete! Sonic is no longer with them, and it's always rough at first.**

 **Let me know what you all think!**

 **Until next chapter!**


	5. Semi Fractured

**Hello all! On to the next chapter of this little story.**

 **Please enjoy! I own nothing.**

* * *

 **Peace and War**

 **Chapter 5: Semi Fractured**

"Really? Well how come?" Vector asked, actually glad to have a distraction for once. Silver nodded, recalling the first time he'd heard of Sonic the Hedgehog.

"Ohhhh yeah. See, my future- my timeline- was under great danger. But it wasn't because of Dr. Eggman, for once. It was because... of something else. Something very, very deadly."

Vector was already stumped. "Wait, wait- timeline? I know you're from the future- is that what you mean? Like your home or something?"

Silver nodded. "Something along those lines. Where I'm from, most of you guys are either retired or... just gone. Younger generations are protecting the world, picking up where you guys left off."

"Huh... gone, are we... so was Sonic..."

"No. Sonic, everyone in the main room, you... you're older, and retired, but I still saw you. I saw you enjoying out your days, gathering together, except at the time I didn't know that. My task was to protect people and keep the world in order. That's... like my job, if you will."

Now Vector was shocked. "Job?! Aren't you a bit young to be doing something like that?"

Silver rolled his eyes. "Dude, I'm only 14." he laughed. Vector blinked and rubbed his head.

"Ah man, already getting a headache..." he groaned. "Just... keep talking. Maybe it'll click or something."

Silver nodded, but got up to first make some rounds. He checked on Tails' vitals. Tails was stable, just out like a light. Silver winced at some of the bruising that had formed on the young fox's arms and leg.

 _'Oh boy, is he gonna be feeling that when he wakes up.'_

Next, Charmy. Vector shifted a bit to the side to allow Silver to check on him. Like Tails, his vitals were stable, but he hadn't made so much as a sound since he was brought in. Silver shook Charmy's shoulder.

"Hey. Charmy? Can you open your eyes?" Vector was a bit confused by the request. Shouldn't he be sleeping? Why wake him?

Silver saw the confusion. "You don't find it strange that Charmy hasn't made any sound since you brought him in? He was... what is it... catatonic? He was frozen, no, paralyzed with fear. But that was hours ago..."

"Oh..." That was all Vector could really say. Silver saw that anger, that guilt for failing to protect his young friend and sighed. This was becoming a bit draining, to be honest.

"Vector. Could you check on the others? With that news about Sonic, I... I'm concerned about the others." He finished checking Charmy's injuries and pulled the covers back up to his chest.

"Y-Yeah, but... what about you?"

"Hmm? Wha about me?"

Vector fully faced Silver and crossed his arms, staring the hedgehog down. "You've been in this medical ward since forever ago. Is this how you handle things serious? By hiding?"

Silver paused. He didn't like where this was going, at all. "Exactly... WHAT are you saying, Vector?" Silver asked, wanting to be sure he was hearing correctly.

"Nothing bad, kid. Chill out." Vector waved his hand dismissively as he caught on to what Silver assumed he was saying. He resumed his vigil over Charmy and sighed. "I don't mean you LITERALLY go someplace and hide- doubt you'd be here if you did that, right?"

Silver felt his chest loosening as his anger slowly subsided. "I-I'm sorry... I shouldn't have reacted like that. It's just..."

"...just what, Silv?" Vector glanced over and his eyes widened in surprise. Silver was tense... angry at someone, but it wasn't him.

"What's wrong? You still upse-"

Silver's hands balled into fists at the memory of someone he could never get back. "I lost someone very close to me... because I... couldn't save her from her destiny..."

"...hang on, did you say _her?_ Like your mom or someone like that?" Vector asked. Just as Silver planned to disclose the meaning behind that, Espio walked in. On his shoulder, he half-dragged a still unconscious Knuckles. Vector hopped up and brushed past Silver to help a fellow friend out.

"Now what?! We kinda need him to give us orders here!" Vector was getting a headache. "This is just getting out of hand!"

Espio had no choice but to agree as he maneuvered Knuckles to Vector's arms. This was only a few hours in and everyone seemed to be falling apart already. Were they THAT dependent on Sonic to save the day...?

Silver looked at the two of them, then glanced down at Knuckles. He could tell Knuckles wasn't injured but he didn't have the energy or the emotional strength to handle a third friend at the moment.

"I'll be back. I... I need to get some air." He was gone before either older male could stop him. Espio noticed the worried look on Vector's face and smiled slightly as he pulled up a thin sheet over his comrade.

"Worried about him now, too? You can't worry about all of us, you know." Espio snapped him out of his thoughts as he got Knuckles situated on the last free bed. Vector chuckled lightly as he glanced at their dreadlocked commander before seriousness took over once more. They had other things to attend to.

"So what happened to him?"

"Had to... knock him out, so to speak. He took the whole Sonic thing... well, hard." That was the best way he could phrase it. Espio looked at Knuckles with a sad, thoughtful expression. "Everyone is..."

Vector grunted in agreement. "Seems that way. Where's everyone else?" He caught Espio staring at Tails and Charmy. "Don't worry, Silv did a good job patching them up. Charmy's still out of it, and Tails... yeah. Don't think they're gonna be up for a little while."

Espio crossed his arms and let out a breath. "I wonder..."

"Hmm?" Vector looked at him. "Wonder what?"

Espio knew the sensitivity of what he was asking wasn't appropriate. Not at that time. So he just dismissed the thought and answered Vector's previous question instead.

"Never mind that. Amy left."

Vector didn't register what was said to him. "I'm sorry, what?" he asked, a bit confused.

"I said Amy left."

Vector's mouth dropped open. First Knuckles, now her too?! What else was next?

"No, Vector. No. She didn't leave the Resistance. She's not that cruel. But she needed some time alone. She's..." Espio shook his head.

"...oh. I... I didn't mean..."

"It's alright, slight misunderstanding. But I feel so sorry for her; we all know she cares deeply for Sonic, so this... this is..."

Vector could only nod in agreement. He knew what he meant- he'd heard her wails from all the way in the ward and it hurt to hear her so broken, no matter how annoying she could be at times.

"... she's gonna be alright, though. Right?"

Espio shrugged and turned to head out the room and talk to Shadow and Rouge. "I don't know, but... let's give them some time. You too."

"H-Huh?! W-What do you mean..." Vector staggered, looking away from him. He crossed his arms and looked down at their youngest member with a thoughtful smile unknowingly spreading slowly across his face. "I'm doing great! You know, besides worryin' about this sleeping fool... hoping he'll be alright when he decides to wake up..."

Espio was just as worried for Charmy as their musclebound boss, especially since he was just a child. But there wasn't much to do now but wait it out. simply nodded and walked out. He knew Vector would take a while to process what happened, and then his emotions would truly show a few hours- or maybe days- later, when something unrelated happened. That was how his boss worked.

 _'Sonic... wherever you are... just hang tight. We're going to keep fighting but you have to fight as well. Do NOT give in to that madman! We will save you, my friend...'_

* * *

Silver walked along a crumbled street, his mind elsewhere. He knew he had to be careful- the Army was trying to clean and restore what little order was left... until it would be stolen by that mad doctor Eggman. Just thinking of his name made the young hedgehog's blood boil.

He was still confused himself as to what he was doing there. No one told him anything, a strange portal just opened up and... swallowed him whole. Silver furrowed his brows as he tried to remember if someone had warned him, told him, gave him some sort of clue, but he came up with nothing. He let out a frustrated huff and kicked a rock.

"What is happening around here?! Why am I here? Why was Sonic defeated?! WHY?!

As he questioned his literal existence in his friend's timeline, he glanced up and saw a familiar mop of pink hair. His heart felt tight as he not only knew that mop, but wasn't sure what to say to her. But seeing her sitting alone, surrounded by damage and death and sadness, it didn't feel right. So Silver decided to check on her.

"H-Hey, Amy." he said, giving her a little tap on her shoulder. She was startled and whirled around, Piko Piko hammer gripped and dangerously close to his head. Upon seeing who it was she dropped the hammer and placed a hand over her racing heart.

"SILVER! Goodness, you scared the heck outta me! I almost killed you!"

Silver laughed a little and, using his telekinesis, moved her hammer a bit so he had some space to sit. "Mind if I join you?"

Amy shrugged half-heartedly and sat down next to her friend. "Sure."

The two watched her beloved city crumbling apart as Eggman's forces continued to invade the city. Sirens blared around them as the national guards tried to save as many people as they could.

"Sonic's not dead." Amy suddenly spoke. Her red-eyed vision refused to waver, even as tears were still racing down her cheeks. She just stared straight ahead at the destruction.

Silver glanced at her worriedly. "Amy..."

"I know, I know, it's... it's pointless. He's not here to stop Eggman and his madness. But... I know Sonic, okay? I know him and I know he'd never give up like that!"

The older hedgehog didn't respond for a while, unsure of what to say. He looked down at his hands, and slowly, the words Amy spoke began to sink in his head. "Amy... I know. I've worked with you all before. You... you saved my world."

Amy blinked in confusion. "What? I've never seen you before now!"

"But you knew my name. Everyone did, even the Chaotix agency did. They've never seen me before, either. But they knew who I was."

Amy started to argue that, but closed her mouth, as she realized Silver was right. How was that even possible?

"It's... oh man, it's a LONG story, and it's gonna be kinda confusing to tell you right now. But I will say this much." Silver looked up at Amy finally.

"In my world, when you guys helped me... Sonic... well, he... he was killed."

Amy's eyes widened at that admission. Silver looked away from the shock he'd just decided to drop. "Yes, it is true. Sonic actually physically died and we brought him back using the Chaos Emeralds. They have always found him worthy, because..."

Amy shook her head, the shock quickly wearing off. "H-He died...? No! That's not true!"

"Listen, Amy. I'm not saying he's going to die! I..." Silver ran his hands down his face, a bit aggravated with how he hoarded the conversation.

"Amy, please. I'm not saying that because I think Sonic is going to die now. I know, more than anyone, that Sonic is a beacon of hope for all of us! But... have you ever thought..."

"What?!"

"Have you ever thought... that perhaps we rely on Sonic TOO much? He needs us for once; shouldn't we make him proud? Show him that we can be strong without him always running around doing all our work for us?"

Once again, Amy snapped her mouth shut as he processed the question. She was very dependent on Sonic, that was for sure- he was the only reason why she felt she could live and breathe every single day. Chasing after her one true love...

"I'm not saying that Sonic shouldn't be here." Silver continued on, realizing that Amy had fallen quiet. "We will always need Sonic, but... this time, he needs us. We have to show him that he hasn't been saving us for fifteen years for nothing."

Amy wiped her cheeks. "You know something... you're right." She stood up and collected her hammer, looking at Silver with a genuinely happy smile. "Sonic's always saved us without a second thought. He's always been there for each of us, even our friends from other time lines."

Silver chuckled, standing up as well. "That's true. So let's be there for him. He needs us, and honestly... once we get him home, we will have to be strong for him like he's always been for us."

Amy nodded and skipped a little bit ahead. She waved Silver over and said, "Let's head back! We need to talk with everyone. They need to know there's still hope yet!"

Silver agreed and started after her. _'Sonic... it's going to be hard. But you've always been our beacon of hope. For once, just once... let us be your shining hope.'_

* * *

 _Meanwhile..._

Sonic groaned in pain. His body screamed for him to stay still, but he didn't have the foggiest idea as to where he was at the moment, so moving needed to be done. He took a deep breath and tried to move, but immediately regretted it. Wherever he was, whoever had him captured, bound his arms a bit too tight behind his back. His shoulders felt numb but he couldn't break free, and it hurt trying to wiggle free.

Opening emerald eyes, Sonic again regretted it. He instantly felt nauseous as he tried to take in his surroundings.

There wasn't much... well, there. Just pitch black darkness. He assumed he was laying someplace since the right side of him felt numbingly cold, but he couldn't see anything in front of him at all. What was going on?

Sonic took a deep breath, and was painfully cut off by a alarming pain radiating from his chest. As he coughed from that sudden discovery, he wondered if his ribs were bruised, because taking breaths hurt like hell. He tried to regulate his breathing, taking slow and careful inhales and exhales. It helped, but not by much.

 _'H-How... did I lose? Who WAS that? What... was that...'_ he wondered to himself as he could hear the silence around him. He rested his head on the cold wherever he was. At least that felt good, even if he couldn't tell if it was clean or not.

 _'Guys...please... get me out of here...'_ he thought to himself. He tried not to let fear set in, but the blur hero had to admit, he was feeling a little less than brave right now. He just had to hand on... maybe someone would save him... and soon.

It shouldn't take long to free him, right? He still had a world to save, and a crazy doctor and... thing with him to take down.

* * *

 **And done! I apologize for the wait, but I hope this makes up for it.**

 **Please let me know what you think, contrastive thoughts, comments, concerns, etc.**

 **Until next chapter!**


	6. Interlude: Lean on Me

**Hello all! On to the next chapter!**

 **Please enjoy! I own nothing.**

* * *

 **Peace and War**

 **Interlude Chapter 6: Lean on Me**

 **Six Months Later...**

Knuckles turned off his comm as Silver and Espio walked in, defeated. Vector followed suit, with Charmy floating behind as if trapped in a daze. The look on all their faces said it all.

"It was a bust, wasn't it." Knuckles didn't face anyone as he threw the statement out there. Silver sighed, being the only one strong enough to answer.

"Sadly, Knuckles. The intel WAS accurate, don't get me wrong, but..." He trailed off, hoping Knuckles would

"We weren't fast enough, Knuckles. He got killed. Just like the rest of the people out there." Charmy decided to state what Silver was trying so hard to avoid saying. Vector cut him a look but didn't say anything. He knew Charmy hadn't been much of the same happy-go-lucky bee since he came around all those months ago. He'd been broody, serious, and had a bad habit of being so blunt that Knuckles almost tried to knock the young child out, before he remembered what he'd forgotten.

Charmy was a six year old child, who watched his first death in a steadily losing war. He watched many more people, and even children, get killed under Eggman's rule. It was scarring him, and yet he was constantly pushing Vector to take him along these scouting and recom trips. Knuckles knew whatever came out of Charmy's mouth, well, it was his fault that happened in the first place.

"So now what? We're losing this war, and everyone knows it." Espio crossed his arms, his expression bleak as he looked at their commander. "The people don't think there's much left we can do."

Charmy shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly, a dead look in his eyes. "There isn't. It's not like we have our saving grace to fix everything, do we?"

At that, Vector had enough. Angry at their failure and tired of Charmy's attitude in general, he turned on the young bee. The slap that echoed throughout the hallway could have been heard through the gunshots and screams outside.

Everyone stared in absolute shock, Charmy included. He cupped his very swollen cheek as Vector stood with his arm outstretched, steam nearly close to literally coming out of his nose.

"Dammit, brat! That's enough outta you! You don't think we DON'T know we're royally screwed?! You don't think Knuckles and Tails ain't aware they've lost their best friend?! YOU DON'T THINK WE CAN SEE SONIC IS NOT HERE!" Vector yelled so loud some of the room's occupants had to cover their ears. Espio stepped in between the two of them to prevent Vector for lashing out again.

"Vector! Enough! I warned you you would snap at the wrong one! Charmy's just coping the best he can! It's not like we've given him time to grieve! You of all people should know that!" he tried to explain, but his calm demeanor was slowly falling. He hadn't expected Vector to blow up THAT much that he'd physically hit their youngest member!

 _'I knew it... I knew Vector wouldn't be alright... but he just doesn't listen!'_

Vector looked at him, at the trembling bee now curled in Amy's arms, crying silently, and huffed angrily. "I'm going out."

With that, he stormed out. Knuckled massaged his temples and looked at Amy with a pleading look. Amy just sighed and rubbed Charmy's back.

"... did NOT think that was gonna happen..." she muttered to herself.

"I was expecting him to blow up, but not like that... Vector..."

Espio knelt next to Amy and Charmy and motioned for the bee to let go of Amy. Charmy didn't waste any time, flinging himself into the one little bit of solitude he had left, still sobbing hard. Standing up, Espio gave Amy a smile. "Thank you. I..."

Amy waved it off and just looked worriedly at Charmy. "Don't you mention it. Go stay with him for a little while. If anything happens, I'll update you. Besides, I think you both could use the break."

Espio nodded, but needed one last bit of permission. He hoisted Charmy in his arms more comfortably, and said softly, "Commander? Permission to take a small leave of absence?"

Knuckles had no strength left in him to argue. He knew he'd have to deal with Vector later, and that powerhouse was gonna be a bit of a thing to talk to. Vector was right, though. It was hard, had been hard on everyone for quite some time. _'But even still, he didn't have to hit the poor kid like that.'_

Sonic was... well, gone. Knuckles refused to think his best friend and rival was anything but that. No one dared uttered anything other than gone, lest they wanted to incur his anger as well.

The hero had been captured for almost seven months. In that short amount of time, Eggman and that... that monster, Infinite, they managed to wipe out all their forces, with a select few survivors left. Those who were killed turned on them, but Knuckles understood. They had to survive, and if it meant joining Eggman... then so be it.

It wasn't like they didn't try to convince them they could win, though. Knuckles, Silver, Amy, they'd all went out into the city, tried to talk to the few survivors left, hoping they would still have the will to fight. But Infinite frightened them too much. Eggman finally had a weapon that could bend people to his will, and they submitted.

It was over without Sonic. The people knew it, Eggman definitely knew it, and now, the Resistance had no choice but to accept it.

It was over.

 _'Sonic... I thought we could have won this. I really thought we had a chance. But we don't! We've lost everything... no. We lost everything the day we lost you. I don't know where you are, or if you're... '_

Knuckles glanced around the room, eyes red from lack of sleep (and although he would never say it aloud, crying a few times), and finally noticed one small thing. "Anyone knows where Tails is?"

At that, Silver and Amy glanced at each other, unsure if Knuckles REALLY needed to know the answer. Knuckles saw the look, and didn't like where that was heading. "He's not here, is he? Where is he?"

"Knuckles, you see, Tails... he... well..." Silver gave up and looked to Amy to help explain the situation.

Luckily, Amy knew exactly how to word the otherwise complicated response. "He hadn't been taking any of this well, even worse than Charmy. He's been out alone of some kind of expedition type of thing every single night, finding scraps and trying to put them together, I guess for use to use. He did find us some really good weapons and wispons, but... his mental state..."

Knuckles nodded and stood up. "He's practically Sonic's brother. I don't think we would do any better in his shoes." He growled under his breath before he slammed his fist on the monitor. Amy tried to approach him, hoping to talk him down, but Silver extended his arm out to block her.

As the red echidna began to exit the meeting room, Silver asked, "What do you want us to do?"

Knuckles sighed heavily. "Right now... I honestly do not know."

* * *

Tails frantically dug through the debris, gloves tattered and fingertips covered in blood. He knew he should've stopped a long while ago, but he needed something, ANYTHING, to keep his mind from wandering again. He couldn't do it before, but he was certain if he gave himself time to think about it, he'd surely try and be with his brother again.

It was all his fault... if he'd been brave enough to fight, at least find a way to distract that... that monster, his brother would still be here... Sonic would still be alive and with them, and none of this would have happened!

"No... gotta keep going..." Tails shook his head, wiping his furry cheek dry from angry tears that were rolling down his cheeks without his permission. He didn't really give himself time to grieve in six months, and he knew everyone was concerned about him, but he didn't know how to deal with it.

He locked himself away, at first. For almost a month, there was not a word anyone could tell him to get him out of his room. He knew about the five stages of grief, and while he was in denial, it didn't feel like it. Sonic was still alive, even if he was captured. He just had to be!

But after he emerged from his room, and Sonic was not there to greet him, he knew that he'd been in denial for long enough. Denial, yes, but the anger hadn't left him. He was MAD. Mad at the world for taking his best friend away from him, mad at the others for not doing enough to find him... and mad at himself for being such a weakling that he couldn't help him.

So he stayed away from them. He had to, otherwise he knew he'd snap. He hadn't spoken to Knuckles in heaven knows how long, and he knew the echidna was really worried about him. Tails stopped working and collapsed on the ground, staring at his blood stained hands.

"What am I doing... this isn't helping anyone, especially you, Sonic..." Tails mumbled to himself. He pressed the palms of his hands to his eyes, letting out a frustrated yell.

"What the hell am I doing?! Why can't I just be useful for once in my life!"

"Woah... so there you are. Finally found you, kid." A forced laugh sounded, followed by: "Lucky for me, I found you."

Tails whipped his head around, startled by the voice. Knuckles stood over him, almost expressionless save for a tiny smirk as he made his way to sit with his friend. "You know what you said was a lie, Tails. Don't doubt yourself."

Tails said nothing, just chewed on his lip and wiped his face. Seeing the blood smeared on Tails' face spooked the commander out, so he reached over and tried to get more of the blood off. Tails grew agitated and slapped his hand away.

"STOP! I'm not a child anymore! I can do that myself!"

Knuckles blinked. "Tails... you're like, eight... so you're a child." he stated simply, checking Tails' left hand. He let out a small whistle- Tails had really messed his hand up. How wasn't he feeling any of that?

"I... I... ugh, shut up, Knuckles!" Tails pouted and tried to get up to storm off, but yelped as he put pressure on his hands. They hurt now. A lot. Knuckles stuck his arm out and caught him, helping him to his feet.

"... look, Tails, I know you're hurt over this-"

"Don't. Please, just... don't." Tails' voice cracked at the end, and Knuckles noticed he wasn't pushing away from him. He was hanging on for dear life. It broke the leader's heart even more, seeing Tails completely breaking down like he was. "Tails..."

"I... I was right there, Knuckles... I was right there, and I didn't even try to help him!" Tails sobbed in Knuckles' arm, unable to carry his own guilt any longer. "If I had been stronger, then maybe... I..."

Knuckles slowly lowered himself to the ground, bringing Tails with him. His eyes stung with tears he still had yet to shed, but he couldn't do it yet. He pulled Tails closer to him, curling him almost protectively into his chest.

"I'm sorry, Sonic... I'm so sorry..." Tails continued to sob. Knuckles didn't say anything, knowing his young friend needed this.

 _'So that's why he's been cutting himself off from everyone. He felt guilty for what happened during that battle. Tails... you shouldn't feel like this. You should have never carried that guilt on your own...'_

"Tails... you not fighting that madman and his experiment... was the best course of action." Knuckles carefully worded his statement, knowing that if he didn't make Tails see what he was trying to say, Tails could drown in even more guilt.

Said kit looked at his leader with confusion in his eyes, tears still rolling down his face. "W-What?!"

"Think about it. You're like Sonic's baby brother... the one he would lay down his life for. So what do you think he would feel if he saw you get hurt?"

Tails grew a bit hurt and upset at that, and pushed away from Knuckles. "So my life is worth more than his?! What kind of friend are you?!"

"A friend who knows Sonic very well! Sonic would NEVER let you get hurt, you idiot!" Knuckles snapped back. "Infinite could have killed you! Sonic couldn't stop him and he was left powerless! So think VERY carefully about that, Tails!"

Tails opened his mouth to speak, until the words Knuckles spoke started hitting his head. He fell quiet. "Wait... Sonic... is powerless? But he... he could've won..."

Knuckles dismissed that comment and explained himself. "I saw the footage you sent me. You were out cold the entire time. I saw how Infinite fought. Tails... he would have tortured Sonic the only way he knew would cut. He would have killed you if you entered that battle. And without the Chaos Emeralds, Sonic was left powerless. So you running, you getting help, you bringing up the data so we can find a way to stop him, that's you helping your brother!"

Tails just looked at Knuckles, unsure of what to say. Knuckles sighed and looked away. "Sonic is strong. I know he's going to hold out until we can find and free him. But he needs you, Tails. He needs you to help him, because once we free him... we don't know who we're going to have anymore. And he will need you more than ever."

Tails nodded and wiped his eyes. "Sonic... I just want him back. I'll help him but... I'd do anything to have him back..."

"I know, buddy. I would, too."

The two sat side by side for a few minutes. Tails began listing over a little, eventually landing on Knuckles' shoulder. Glancing down at him, Knuckles' sharp eye took note of Tails' bloody hands, the scar still healing on the back of his right ear, and the slight discoloration of his arms from that initial battle that had yet to fade.

"You should have rested more from that assault. Your body needed the time to heal."

"I... I know. But I couldn't... not after all that."

A few moments more, and Knuckles felt his light weight grow heavy. He closed his eyes and enjoyed the small amount of peace as Tails finally allowed himself to crash.

Tails held onto too much grief for months, and he was bound to snap sooner or later... although it could've been worse. He could've lashed out like Vector did. Speaking of which...

"Oh man... I was supposed to find the hothead! Argh...! Maybe I'd better take him back to base first... I think he'll have a much clearer head and he needs to be looked at..." Knuckles decided, scooping Tails in his arms and making his way back to the base.

"Espio, talk some sense into that hardhead. I know he didn't mean it... but we can't afford to be angry at each other. We have to come together. For Sonic's sake."

* * *

Charmy had finally stopped crying, and was curled in Espio's lap, completely silent. Espio wasn't sure how he was supposed to take that- he had used to find Charmy's noise making quite annoying, but after today, he wished the kid would scream just to have some semblance of normal.

"Charmy? How are you holding up?" Espio asked, keeping his voice low.

The little bee pressed his cheek more into Espio's chest and let out a slow breath. "My head hurts... a lot." he answered softly.

Espio didn't want to give Charmy any more medication, and the kid had managed to sneak a brief 'nap', if he could call it that, after Charmy blacked out from his heavy sobs and the pain ringing in his skull. Vector went too far, and Espio was scared, honestly.

What if this was something Charmy couldn't forgive Vector for?

"Was... I that bad?" The chemelon snapped out of his thoughts and glanced down.

"Come again?"

"Was I that bad to you and Vector? I mean... I didn't mean to make him mad, I... I didn't know..." Charmy was rambling, and his voice was cracking. He was close to another breakdown, and Espio had to wonder how the kid could cry THAT much over the span of several hours.

"Shhhh. Its okay, Charmy... it's okay..." Espio thought he'd feel... weird, no, awkward, trying to calm a broken hearted six year old. It wasn't something that he'd train for, nor something he had experience with.

But as he cradled Charmy in his arms and listened to broken questions and painful sobs, Espio realized there was no way to train for something like war. A child being in a war he didn't need to be in, being betrayed by people he loved and cared about, and watching innocents die all around him... how could he prepare him for something like that?

"Why is he doing this, Espio?" Charmy asked a few minutes later. His cried had slowed to sniffles, with an occasional hiccup. His eyes were very red and puffy.

"Who? Vector?"

"Eggman. He's hurting all these people... why?"

Espio sighed. He wished he knew the answer to that. "Sadly, I do not know the answer to that myself. But I do know that the people need us to keep fighting and stay strong. Sonic needs us to keep fighting... for everyone's future."

Charmy didn't quite understand the details of what happened to Sonic, other than Eggman had defeated him and he was captured. He also knew Vector had talked to him about saving as many people as he could, and then the kid and her little brother... the screaming... a gunshot... and blood everywhere...

"Espio... people keep dying..." Charmy muttered suddenly. Espio had no idea what to say to that. It was war, after all. Then, it hit him.

"Charmy... do you remember what happened out in the field a few months back? Vector said you'd frozen up after you witnessed some children getting killed." Espio felt his stomach tense up as he knew what he was asking his young friend to do. But Vector didn't get much out of Charmy except that.

Charmy looked at Espio, as if he was expecting him to know the answer to the question, and slowly, it dawned on him what he meant. He rested his head back on Espio's chest and finally nodded. _'Okay... at least he's acknowledging me. Better than he was before.'_

Charmy thought back to that day. Despite the time gap between the event and now, it hadn't exactly been tucked away in his mind. In fact, he hadn't really tried to process it much more than the two children were dead and it was his fault. He knew he was supposed to feel guilty for not saving them, but he just didn't understand why.

"I can't... feel anything for them, Espio. I didn't know them, and I was scared when that big monster guy came and killed them, but..." Looking up at Espio once more, he finally asked him a question that he felt he should've asked months ago.

"Am I bad for not feeling sad that they're gone?"

Espio was a bit stunned and didn't answer at first. Charmy just wanted to know how to feel, how to cope, when all around them, it was nothing but chaos, death and despair. He sighed and rubbed Charmy's back.

"No. You are not wrong for feeling like that." He finally settled on. Now he was beginning to see why Vector sometime needed a break from the kid. He was inquisitive, per the expected normal behavior of a six year old, but war...

"Then why does Vector hate me?" Detecting the sadness in his voice, Espio decided to put a stop to whatever he was assuming before he couldn't save their friendship.

"Charmy... Vector does not hate you. That is far from true. He worried about you, even more since all this began. It's just... "

At that point, Espio was lost for words. It was going to be very complicated trying to explain to a kid how grown-ups processed things when he wasn't even an adult himself. But he needed to try.

"... you scared him. The way you have been acting, how you spoke to Knuckles, how you just acted like you didn't really care... it scared him. And when Vector gets scared, he reacts like... that."

Charmy cupped his cheek where he'd been slapped. The pain had finally went away, and it was only slightly swollen. "I didn't mean to act like that. I didn't know I was being bad... Espio, can we go find him? I wanna apologize to him."

Espio finally felt he could release Charmy, and stood to stretch his own legs. The medical bay's cots were very uncomfortable, if he were honest. "Are you sure? He may still be cooling off, and I think Knuckles was going to find him-"

Charmy was flying now, smiling like his happy go lucky usual self. He looked at Espio with a strange expression, one the ninja had never seen before. "I'm not mad at him, Espio. I was hurt, yeah, and confused a little. But... Vector does a lot to keep me safe. And now, I have to learn to fight so I can help him."

The strange expression changed as a grin spread across his face. "I know Vector loves me! And he loves you too! That's why he protects us! So I'm gonna make sure he knows I love him too and that he's the bestest friend ever! After all, friend get mad at each other... but I know we can't be broken apart!"

Espio was caught completely off-guard when Charmy slammed into him, giving him a very tight (as tight as a tiny bee could manage) hug. "You're the bestest too, Espio. Thanks for always being there for me." he whispered before he pulled away.

"I'm gonna go find Vector and fix this! See you later, Espio!" Charmy flew out the bay before Espio had time to figure out what to say. He stood there, perplexed.

"Charmy..." Espio felt a sense of pride filling his chest, followed by a huge sense of dread. Things were getting bad and they would only get worse...

"We have to protect you... because I do not think neither me nor Vector can handle ever losing you, Charmy." He bit back the urge to cry and shook his head, gathering himself and putting on his usual mask.

"We're going to find a way to win this... and put an end to this nightmare. For you, Charmy... so you can live and be happy."

* * *

Vector sat with his legs dangling over the edge of the rooftop, his headset sitting comfortably on his neck. He had no interest in listening to music. Not during such a crazy time. He had to be alert, and he knew that, but...

He sighed. He knew he was wrong for attacking Charmy like he did. He wouldn't be surprised if Charmy never wanted to see him again after what he did and said. Espio had been right.

"Shoulda listened to him and calmed down. Now look what I've done! ARGGHHHH!" Vector chuckled a random rock far, far out, and slumped back down. "I wouldn't be shocked if the kid never spoke to me again..."

"Vector! VEEEEEECTORRRR!"

A sudden ambush from behind almost made the crocodile turn around and snap Charmy's head clean off. He put his hand over his chest to calm his racing heart down as Charmy flew around him and decided to make himself at home next to his large friend.

"Dammit, Charmy! Don't do that crap!" Vector yelled. Charmy looked sideways at him and grinned. Vector finally calmed down and sat down, but made it clear he wasn't sitting within an arm's length of him.

"... what are you doing up here, anyways. I didn't tell anyone I was here."

Charmy shrugged and scooted closer to him. Vector glanced down at how close he was and moved further away from him.

"Nope. I just flew around and I found you. Lucky bee, I think!" Charmy didn't sound angry or sad or scared... he sounded oddly normal. Vector was beginning to wonder what exactly Espio told him. But he didn't want to find out. Not yet, anyways. Instead, he scooted further away from Charmy, unsure of how to act around him at the moment.

Charmy wasn't understanding why Vector kept moving away from him. so he kept moving closer to him. Eventually, Vector had no more room to move down to, and Charmy was a bit too close, so he swung back over the edge, thinking if he left and ran far enough, Charmy would get the hint.

"Vectorrrrr! Come onnnnn, quit running away from me!" Charmy playfully cheered, chasing after Vector as if it was a game. The crocodile had enough of the perplexing behavior.

"Charmy, stop!" Immediately, the little bee halted in his flight, a good five feet away from him. He looked a bit saddened by Vector's reaction. "Just... stay over there, Charm. Keep away from me, alright?"

"Vector? What's the matter?" Charmy moved a half inch closer, but Vector put his hand up to keep him from coming any closer. "A-Are you still mad at me...? Espio told me what I did..."

At that, Vector's guilt increased even more. Damn, he wasn't supposed to know about that! "What?"

Charmy moved closer to him. "I asked Espio what I did to make you upset and he told me you were scared because of how I was acting. I didn't know I was acting so bad, Vector." he explained. He took another step closer. Vector, thankfully, hadn't moved away from him.

"I-I ain't scared of nothin'!" Vector's tough guy act emerged, but Charmy wasn't fazed. He'd been with Vector long enough to know that his friend was lying through his teeth.

"Then why don't you want me near you, Vector?" Charmy asked, innocent eyes locked onto his own. "You're scared because you think you'll keep hurting me. Because I'm a little kid and this is a war. Because you might not be able to save me one day, just like before. Right?"

Vector didn't know what to say, so he kept his mouth shut. Charmy had closed about half the space between the two.

"Charmy..." The little bee looked at him, head tilted a little. "Hmm?"

"Do you hate me?"

"Nope! Not now, not ever. You're the bestest, after all!" Charmy answered happily. Vector didn't believe that for a second, but as Charmy quickly closed the distance and finally gave his best friend a hug, Vector finally let some of his weakness show.

"Damn brat..." Vector mumbled softly as he returned the hug. It was strange to him at first, but as Charmy continued to hug him without any real intention of letting him go, Vector allowed himself to hug Charmy properly.

"I'm sorry for hittin' you like that. Didn't deserve it, not after what you've already been through." Vector said in Charmy's shoulder. He didn't think he could say that directly to his face without breaking down completely, and he needed his semblance of pride to remain somewhat intact.

Charmy giggled and snuggled more in Vector's hug. He actually could never remember a time he'd been hugged by Vector like this, and he was going to milk it for as long as he could. "It's okay. I know you still love me. I'm sorry I worried you."

"Charmy, you're a kid. You're always gonna worry me, got it? But... I can't protect you by hurting you." He sighed and finally pulled back to take a look at Charmy's cheek. It wasn't as red as it had been hours ago, but it was definitely swollen.

"How does it feel?" Charmy looked confused at first, then it changed to his normal expression.

"Teehee! It's okay now!"

Vector smiled a little, relieved that Charmy was finally getting back to normal. It would take him a little while for him to get back to normal himself, but he wasn't planning on rushing anything any time soon.

Using one arm to hold Charmy, Vector decided he needed to go clear up the air with the other members of the Resistance. Perhaps there was still some hope left, after all.

"Come on, Vector! Espio is probably worried sick about you, and I think you need to talk to Knuckles, and..."

Vector just smirked as Charmy kept rambling on and on and on. They headed back to base, mostly so Vector could update them on things between himself and Charmy, as well as apologize to Espio.

 _'Things with his chatterbox mouth... definitely feeling back to normal now. But... we still have a lot of things to do, and we have a hero to save. I hope Sonic is holding out okay...'_

* * *

 **And complete! Next chapter is all about Sonic and how he is holding up.**

 **Please let me know what you think!**

 **Until next chapter!**


End file.
